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January 24, 2016


Hiddink Cools Top-Four Talk  (Sky Sports)

Guus HiddinkGuus Hiddink refused to get carried away with Chelsea's top-four chances following their 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday.

Diego Costa scored the only goal of the game midway through the first half, minutes after Per Mertesacker had been sent off for bringing down the Spaniard as he burst through on goal.

The win extends Chelsea's unbeaten Premier League run under Hiddink to seven matches but they are still 14 points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.

"If we stay unbeaten it's a positive step but it's a big gap," Hiddink told Sky Sports. "The team knows it's a big gap but I always want to see the ambition of the team.

"Whether or not you can make fourth place the ambition must be there every game. Even when there is nothing a stake, I want to see ambition."

While Costa scored the winner for Chelsea, former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas was named man of the match after an influential display.

"He is strategically very strong," said Hiddink. "When you have him you can start playing football and that's important.

"Of course he knows his best and I'm happy when he says he is growing in confidence."

The win extends Chelsea's unbeaten run against Arsenal to nine league matches and Hiddink was pleased with the overall performance of his side, who started the day 19 points behind the Gunners.

"I'm proud of the guys who performed as they did," said the Dutchman. "We had a good first half. We played well. Second half we played okay, although I think it could have been more than 1-0.

"We played for a big part of the game. We tried to defend forward and again it could have been better but when you come here you wait for them and they are so skilful. You have to take the initiative."



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