Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was full of praise for his players after the impressive 3-0 away win against Watford.
The Gunners were disappointing in the first half of the game but were close to their very best in the second half as they eased past Quique Sanchez Flores' men.
They keep their second place in the table ahead of next week's home game against Everton.
"To beat Watford you have to be completely committed to the game," Wenger told reporters.
"We faced a Watford team that was well organised and knew exactly what they wanted to do. They were very physical in the challenge and very strong in the challenges and very direct.
"These three things together, it took us a while to get on top of that. In the second half, the fatigue coming in, Watford came in less in the challenges and we got the ball quicker in transition and were much more dangerous.
"When we scored the first goal, I like the fact we continued to attack and got a convincing win.
"I did [thought about dropping Alexis].
"Yesterday in the training session he looked quite sharp and the medical people told me he has no problem at all, then I thought I would test if he is ready and if he was not ready I would take him out.
"But sometimes it is easier to start the game and take the players off than when you go into the game a little bit tired, because you go with the game. So I decided to go for that."
