Wenger lost Philippe Senderos (ankle) in the warm-up and Bacary Sagna (back) in the first half.

After late wins against Fulham and Sparta Prague, the Frenchman was delighted with another example of his side fighting until the end.

"I was worried a bit but the side is ready to fight until the last second. The defenders had a lot of work to do and they did it very well," he said.

"Eventually Fabregas came through and the midfield is getting goals now. We won with style, against a good side and we defended very well. "We created chances but even when things didn't go for us we kept going.

"We won in the last seconds at Fulham, we scored a second goal at Prague in the dying moments, we missed a penalty and still won the game here. That is a recognition of what is going on in this team and how we are progressing."

Kasper Schmeichel saved Robin van Persie's penalty in the second half at the Emirates Stadium, minutes after City were denied a spot-kick themselves when Michael Johnson was flattened by Kolo Toure.

With a stalemate looming, it was Cesc Fabregas who broke the deadlock, finding the top corner with 10 minutes remaining as City conceded their first goal of the season.