Arsene Wenger was impressed by the manner in which his Arsenal side silenced their critics with an impressive 2-0 away victory at Manchester City in the Premier League.
Much had been made of Arsenal's inability to beat the big clubs in the top flight, but goals from Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud consigned City to a first defeat in 15 games on Sunday.
As well as playing the attractive football they are renowned for, Wenger's men produced a well-organised display and stifled the champions' attacking threat.
Wenger was delighted with the discipline his players showed at the Etihad Stadium and believes they should take great belief from their impressive victory.
He told Sky Sports 1: "We played high in their half and were deep in our half and it worked. I felt that we were well-disciplined, well-organised, had a good solidarity and overall we kept a good control of the game. We could even have done better many times on counter attacks.
"We had that consistent discipline for 90 minutes which is needed in big games. We looked in control away from home and we finally got a big win in a big game away from home.
"We almost had it at Liverpool [a 2-2 draw at Anfield last month], but [against City] we did it. What is pleasing is that reinforces the belief of the team. To feel that you can do well is very important."
The Arsenal boss praised Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny after they ensured Sergio Aguero was unable to make an impact in his first start for six weeks.
He said: "Sometimes, the fact that you have to find solutions internally is a blessing.
"People are very quick on their judgment, you forget that we had many defenders out all season, as you saw [against City] the centre-backs are a good partnership and it takes time to get back to that level."
