Arsenal: Arsene Wenger pinpoints ruthlessness and discipline as factors behind Liverpool win

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed two key factors behind the Gunners' 4-1 demolition of Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on 4 April.

The north London club came out victorious over the Merseyside club in what was a crucial clash for both sides chasing a place in the top four. The win for Wenger's team puts them in the second place, nine points ahead of Liverpool in the fifth.

The Reds' chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League took a massive blow after they were outplayed by Arsenal. This makes it their second consecutive loss following their defeat at the hands of Manchester United just before the international break at the end of March.

The French manager has pinpointed two qualities that his Arsenal team displayed in the win: the first was ruthlessness in front of the goal and the other discipline to maintain the lead in the second half without any panic.

The Gunners, who went in with a 3-0 lead at the interval, looked comfortable after the break, baring a small lack of concentration giving Liverpool their consolation goal via a penalty.

"Liverpool are a good side going forward but maybe we had a killer instinct and took advantage of our chances in the first half," Wenger is quoted as saying by the Liverpool Echo.

"We took our chances which always make the difference appear bigger than it may be. Liverpool are a good side and they will recover from that."

"Second half was a question of can we maintain our discipline? In the end, 4-1 was very convincing in a very important game," the Frenchman explained.

Raheem Sterling, who was the main focus ahead of the match due to his controversial interview with the BBC, was one of Liverpool's best players, but failed to make too much of a difference apart from winning the penalty and creating a few half chances.

The England winger acknowledged that he was flattered by Arsenal's interest ahead of the game, and later Wenger blamed the media for creating the link, but refused to accept or deny interest in the young midfielder.

"We've been linked in the media (with Sterling). In the moment we aren't in the transfer period. We have plenty of offensive players, we had Welbeck and Walcott who were only on the bench," Wenger added.