Mikel Arteta says Arsenal had to master a balance between intense pressing and defending deep in their 1-0 victory at Manchester United.
Arsenal won at Old Trafford for the first time in 14 years through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's second-half penalty but were dominant in a goalless first-half.
United retained the midfield diamond that underpinned their spectacular 5-0 Champions League thrashing of RB Leipzig on Wednesday but Arteta played Bukayo Sako in a midfield three with Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey that disrupted a sloppy United.
Partey, a £45million deadline day signing from Atletico Madrid, was outstanding behind the energetic attacking trident of Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Willian.
"Not everything [worked] but a lot of things happened," Arteta said. "It's really tricky because they can change formation, they protect their players a lot in this diamond.
"You want to really aggressive and press them high, but the players they have only need a split-second and they are through. It's who we are and we did that really well.
"We didn't have the legs to do that for the whole game so we had to defend in a deeper block, but we did that in a really well-structured and organised way.
"We wanted to come here and be who we are and be that from the first minute. I think obviously if you look at the performance, every player needed to be at their best and they were. They asked a lot of questions with the way we played, so I’m really, really happy with the performance.
"In the last few minutes they throw everything at you and have some big, physical players with a lot of quality. Anything can happen. But we defended really well."
On Partey, Arteta added: "He was really good, but I don’t like to speak on individuals because they all contributed a lot. It was really hard to pick the team and it’s getting harder and harder, but I am glad that whoever I pick, they’re ready to give absolutely everything and play with a lot of courage.
"This is a massive factor for me because we played with no fear and believed in our style of play."
