Mikel Arteta: Optimistic Arsenal have 'fire in the belly'

Mikel Arteta watched his Arsenal team return to the top of the Premier League table with victory over Chelsea before insisting he would not let his players' heads drop.

The Gunners were eight points clear last month but had fallen behind Manchester City following a run of four winless game – a streak that ended with a comfortable 3-1 win over the beleaguered Blues.

Captain Martin Odegaard scored twice before Gabriel Jesus wrapped up the win before half-time as Noni Madueke’s first league goal proved a mere consolation for Frank Lampard’s visitors.

Despite their recent run, Arteta had refused to rule Arsenal out of the title race and this win took them two points clear – although they have played two more games than City.

The Spaniard admitted he did not want to see morale fall after a galling loss at City last week saw their lead all but dashed.

"The team is back to its best. We wanted to prove we had that fire in the belly."

"It is four games to go, we are at the top right now," he said.

"We cannot do that (let heads drop), to be where we are after 10 months against the team we are fighting against, being there and having the possibility to be top – we have to enjoy it and embrace it, maximise the opportunity that we have because we don’t know what is going to happen.

"We wanted to have a very different approach to the game, and we did it right from the beginning.

"The team is back to its best. We wanted to prove we had that fire in the belly. I could see that in the last few days, and we prepared for the game well.

"Mentally we arrived in the right mood and with the right level of energy. Everything went for us as well, which is important.

"We’ve had a couple of difficult weeks with very different games, with a lot of emotions