Santi Cazorla believes Arsenal's defensive master class provided the catalyst for their 2-0 victory against Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Cazorla, who was named Man of the Match, received acclaim for his own display in a victory that pushed Arsenal to within a point of fourth-placed Manchester United, but the Spaniard believes their defensive organisation was central to the triumph.
"We played very well and we defended strongly. When we defend like that, we have many chances to win games," Cazorla told the club's official website. "They have so many top players -- [David] Silva and [Sergio] Aguero -- so we needed to play together in defence and play on the counter-attack. I think today [we showed] a very good spirit.
"We needed to defend together and work hard, because they are a very good team. The team today was perfect and the three points were very important for us."
Cazorla scored a penalty and then provided the assist for Olivier Giroud to score a second-half header as Arsenal delivered an unexpected victory.
France international Giroud suggested Arsenal's indifferent record against their rivals at the top of the Premier League helped inspire their improved display in Manchester.
"We learnt from our mistakes because we played too much of our own game before," Giroud said. "We always play well against the big four but we haven't managed to win, so it's great for us and I think it will be a game to remember.
"We played well this time because we waited for them and we played well on the counter-attack. After we scored, tried to keep a clean sheet and we could have scored more goals.
"Defensively we were really compact and we didn't let them play through the lines. We knew that they liked to play behind our midfielders with David Silva and Sergio Aguero, so we were aware of that and always created chances up front.
"We know we need the momentum to come back into the top four and we are in a good run. We have kept three clean sheets so we need to keep this up. We always create chances to score and hopefully we can continue to do this for the rest of the season."
Arsenal centre-back Per Mertesacker believes the professional performance from Arsene Wenger's side was evidence that Arsenal can adjust their tactics, echoing Giroud's belief that his side had recognised their mistakes from last season.
"We stayed calm over the whole 90 minutes and just dropped a bit deeper. We didn't rush ourselves to do anything," Mertesacker said. "It's very unusual for us, but we learned, especially from last season. I would say it was a mature performance.
"We don't have to talk too much. It was just one game, but it was a good response. Every player was up for proper defending from front to back. I think we have to praise the whole unit."