• Premier League

Wilshere: Chelsea's quality made difference

Jack Wilshere says Arsenal were undone by a clinical Chelsea side, with the quality of Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Eden Hazard the difference between the two teams.

Wilshere insisted that Arsenal had done well to keep Chelsea's stars quiet, but two moments of magic, first by Eden Hazard and then by Fabregas, showed the contrast in the levels of quality between the clubs.

"We didn't really see Costa or Fabregas all game and then all of a sudden he gets an opportunity, plays a 50-yard ball to Costa and it's a goal," Wilshere told Arsenal Player.

"That is the difference at this level, we are playing against teams who, when you are on top, you have to make it count or they will punish you. That is what they did."

Taking some comfort from the fact that Arsenal avoided a repeat of their 6-0 Stamford Bridge drubbing against Chelsea back in March, Wilshere suggested Arsenal's lack of cutting edge contributed to their downfall against Jose Mourinho's league leaders.

"It was frustrating and we're disappointed," Wilshere added. "It was obviously better than last year's result, but at the end of the day we still have the same outcome: no points and a disappointed team.

"We felt that we did alright. In the first 20 to 25 minutes we wanted to come out and keep a clean sheet. In the big games in the past we have lost it in the first 20 minutes so we wanted to keep it tight and I thought we did that.

"Then unfortunately there was a bit of magic from Hazard and they got a penalty. You can't plan for that.

"I thought we did alright in the second half. We had periods of possession when it felt like we were on top and we had a few half chances, but we didn't create a clear-cut opportunity. Maybe on another day we would score one of those half chances and create a few more."

The statistic that Arsenal failed to register a single shot on target in their latest Stamford Bridge defeat does little to back up Wilshere's relatively upbeat summation of a setback that left his side nine points behind their London rivals just seven games into this Premier League season.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger claimed defensive mistakes were the decisive factor as he failed to register a win against old fie Jose Mourinho for a 12th time.

"It was down to us not to make defensive mistakes and use the dangerous situations we had and I think we were a bit short on both sides," admitted Wenger.

"We made a defensive mistake at the moment when we couldn't afford to do it, and also when it was 1-0 and we were all over them I felt it was important not to concede a second goal.

"We did produce a good performance and both keepers had no saves to make."

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