Arsene Wenger admitted he was relieved to see Arsenal come away with three points after claiming they played 'with the handbrake on' against Birmingham City.
Nikola Zigic opened the scoring for the Blues in the 33rd minute against the run of play with his first goal in the Premier League.
However, a debatable penalty awarded after Marouane Chamakh went down under Scott Dann's challenge was converted by Samir Nasri on 41 minutes.
Morocco striker Chamakh then went on to rub salt into the wounds with a winning goal two minutes into the second half.
The 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium brought a halt Arsenal's two-game Premier League losing streak.
"It was nervy for us because you could see our fluency was a bit affected by the fact that we had not won for two games," explained Wenger.
"We played a little bit with the handbrake in the final third, especially when we were 2-1 up, and it was never comfortable. You could see that and feel that in the way we played."
Meanwhile, Wenger accepted that Jack Wilshere deserved to be sent off for a crude lunge at Zigic in the closing stages.
Wenger has continually hit out at opposition players who he feels are overly aggressive when playing against the Gunners.
"He mistimed his tackle and he got the red card he deserved," acknowledged the Frenchman.
"But he didn't spend the whole game kicking people. He played football and was one of the best players on the football pitch.
"Unfortunately it happened to him, but I think it was more frustration. He didn't want to harm the player – he mistimed his tackle.
"We do not complain about his red card but you cannot say he had a dirty game."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
