“It Was A Six-Pointer” – Laurent Koscielny Hails Derby Win Over Chelsea

By The Editor
on 19th January 2019

Laurent Koscielny hailed the performance which kept our top four hopes alive…

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Arsenal skipper Laurent Koscielny hailed the team’s win against Chelsea as we closed the gap to three points and kept out top four hopes alive, the Frenchman told BT Sport.

The Blues came to the Emirates Stadium knowing that a win would effectively rule us out of the race and leave us nine points adrift.

Following last week’s abysmal display at West Ham which saw is defeated 1-0 and slip six points behind Maurizio Sarri’s men, this was a must-win for us.

The team started as they meant to go on, pressing Chelsea aggressively all over the park and forcing mistakes across the visitor’s back four.

Often criticised for our slow starts, we came out of the blocks looking for blood and it paid off, with Alexandre Lacazette and Koscielny giving us a 2-0 lead at the break.

We shifted gears after the interval and decided to rest on our lead, limiting the former Premier League champions to just a single shot on target the entire game.

For Koscielny, this was a true six-pointer and the captain was proud of the way we responded.

“Today we needed to win. We did a mistake last week and it was a game of six points,” he told BT Sport.

“If we lose, it would be nine points; if we win just three points. We are still in the race for the top four.

“It was important, the commitment was amazing from all the boys. We talked a lot and we showed on the pitch which way we want to go together.

“It is good to play like this. We want to fight for each other.

“When we talk about clean sheets it is not just about the defenders. We showed everyone working together; the strikers work and help the rest of the team. Then at the back, it is easier to win the challenges.

“It is good for our head – we can keep this [mentality] for the rest of the season.”

Koscielny was handed the man of the match award and rightly so as he rolled back the years to produce a performance which has merited his status as one of the league’s best defenders in recent years.