Nemanja Matic says Chelsea wanted to win Saturday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge more than Arsenal.
The Blues claimed their first home league triumph of the season and extended the Gunners’ winless league run against their rivals to eight games thanks to goals from Kurt Zouma and Eden Hazard.
“We wanted to win more than them,” Matic told Chelsea TV. “It was a very important three points for us, especially against them.
“We didn’t start the season very well so it was very important to win these two games – Champions League against Maccabi [Tel Aviv] and the derby against Arsenal.
“We didn’t concede one goal and we scored six. We have to continue to play like this, especially the next game – it’s going to be very important for us.”
Chelsea next play Walsall on Wednesday in the Capital One Cup – a competition they won last term – before playing matches at Newcastle and Porto in the Premier League and Champions League, respectively.
Manager Jose Mourinho can be expected to make changes for the trip to the West Midlands, with John Terry likely to be restored in central defence.
Zouma was preferred to Terry against Arsenal to combat the pace of Theo Walcott and he scored his first Premier League goal.
But the Frenchman knows he can learn plenty from 34-year-old Terry.
“I’m very happy because I had a chance to play some games and to show what I can do,” the 20-year-old told Chelsea TV.
“I have to keep going. I have to learn a lot with the captain, the legend and Gary [Cahill]. I’m very happy to play with them and learn a lot.”
Mourinho is not looking beyond the Walsall match after a challenging start to the season.
“I want to go match after match,” he said.
“Walsall is a cup game, a cup that we won and a cup that we don’t want to throw away. We want to try to win. Wednesday is one more difficult match.”
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