Fernando Torres said one of Chelsea's biggest targets of the new season was to improve their record against the big teams, after only managing one win all of last season.
The Blues got that target off to the perfect start with a 2-1 victory over Arsenal, with Torres and Juan Mata scoring for the European champions.
"We knew before the game that we wanted to improve the results we had last season against the top teams," Torres told the club's official website. "One of the main targets we have this season was winning these kinds of games.
"For us to win against the top teams is very important because not having very good results against them last season was one of the reasons why we didn't finish in the top four.
"This was the first big test against a top team and we were able to get the three points and for that we should be proud."
Explaining the opening goal he scored against the Gunners, Torres said: "It was a one-against-one against Koscielny and he wasn't facing the ball, so I could touch the ball before he could put the ball away," he said.
"It was important because it gave us more time to settle into the game and I was very happy as well for Mata's goal, two Spaniards scoring against Arsenal and keeping us at the top.
"We have to improve more but all the attacking players are great players between the lines. We need to add more consistency in the system and for that we are training every day, but we can see in games like this we are improving.
"Arsenal are a great team with the ball but we could get the ball a lot of the time and this is the best way to defend."
Mata, meanwhile, said spending some time with his family, after the club gave him two-week break after a long season, had helped him a lot. "It was a nice break for me," he said. "I had two weeks resting, trying to get away from football, and it worked well because of a good run for the team, where we went top of the league.
"It was nice just to spend some time with my friends and family. Before the rest I didn't feel bad, but it's a long season with so many games, so it will be good for me."
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