Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain revealed that his side took well to the new formation in their hard-fought 2-1 victory against Middlesbrough on Monday night.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil netted either side of Alvaro Negredo’s volley to condemn Boro further into the relegation-zone at the Riverside Stadium on Monday.

Arsene Wenger’s charges were on the back of a three-game consecutive winless streak away from home in the Premier League and as a result they took significant measures in a bid to change their dismal form guide by deploying a three-man defence for the first time in 20 years.

Chamberlain was handed the the man-of-the-match award for his exploits and expressed his joy at garnering the victory in addition to giving a frank assessment of his side’s recent spell.

‘We have not been good enough, we need to take responsibility for that and today we had to win.’ he told Sky Sports.

‘We had to get back to basics, it’s a massive honour to play for a team like Arsenal, you have to give 100% and maybe that’s been slipping recently.’

When quizzed about Wenger’s new formation. Oxlade-Chamberlain said his team responded well to the Chelsea-esque formation.

‘The formation was something new, a change, but we adapted well to it.’

‘It worked well in the first half especially,’ he concluded.

Arsenal host Manchester City in an FA Cup semi-final encounter at the Emirates Stadium in their next encounter on Sunday 23 April at 16:00.

Photo:  Martin Rickett / PA