Arsenal had a man advantage for much of the match, but Fabregas insisted "even if they were 15 and we were 11 we would still have gone on and won.

"Chelsea are looking very strong but still have to play a lot of the big teams. We will see how they do against them but we have to keep calm.

Arsenal move up to 2nd in the Premier League on goal difference, ahead of City, Manchester United, West Brom and Tottenham Hotspur.