ARSENAL boss Arsene Wenger has demanded that his youthful players learn how to beat the lesser sides if they are to keep their newly revived English Premier League title hopes alive.

The Gunners would have been 13 points off the pace if they had lost at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, but their shock 2-1 win away to Chelsea gave their trophy ambitions a boost, cutting the gap with the Blues to seven points.

But Arsenal’s youthful squad now need to back up their impressive victory by learning how to motivate themselves to beat the Premier League’s also- rans, as well as the title contenders, Wenger said.

“I have an intelligent group and a very young one, and what you have to learn when you are young is that, in every type of game, you need to find the resources to win. To just turn up is not good enough,” said the Frenchman.

Arsenal have beaten Man- chester United this season, and reached the last 16 in the Champions League, but they slumped to dismal defeats at the hands of Fulham, Hull and Stoke.

“It is true that we have regrets, but it also shows that we have the level you need to be up there — and that’s down to our desire to win now and in the coming months,” said Wenger.

“It’s part of the learning process: to learn to win when you’re not completely on the edge. You know that you will not every week be exactly in the same kind of mind, and Manchester United will not be and Chelsea will not be.

“But when they play against Arsenal, they are.”

Arsenal secured their London derby victory over Chelsea thanks to two goals from Dutch striker Robin van Persie.

The Gunners’ Switzerland defender, Johan Djourou, scored a 31st-minute own-goal, but Van Persie scored a controversial goal from offside in the 59th and struck again three minutes later to shock the hosts.

“It is a great win for us because we had lost two games unexpectedly, and to have lost would have put us 13 points away from Chelsea — it would have been too much,” Wenger admitted.

Sapa-AFP

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