Wenger: 'The way the team responded was fantastic'

"It was very important for us to show a great mental response. Your mental strength decides the shortness of your crisis. We had a big disappointment last Wednesday and it's all about how quickly you respond by not losing the next game. There was a big question mark tonight and we won the game.

"The way the team responded was fantastic. We had a real desire about us and the result was vital for the rest of the season. In the first half we played well and created many chances. In the second half Villa made a real battle of it but we showed another aspect of our game.

"Sometimes we make mistakes on set-pieces but that did not happen tonight. We dropped physically in the second half and you could see that Villa have had a long rest. Diaby has made a habit of scoring against Villa with his only other goal for Arsenal coming against the midlands side in the 5-0 win at Highbury last season.

"He deserved it and we are happy for him. It was a bit lucky but in the first half Jeremie Aliadiere had a great time but just couldn't finish the game off."