Arsene Wenger says Chelsea's win at Manchester City proves that this season's title race is difficult to predict.

Branislav Ivanovic's first-half goal earned a significant victory for Jose Mourinho's team on Monday to leave Arsenal two points clear of both their closest challengers.

Chelsea ended Man City's long winning run on home soil and became the first team to stop them scoring at the Etihad since Birmingham City in November 2010.

"It [the title race] is never as simple as everyone predicts it," Wenger told Arsenal Player. "I said a long time ago that nobody will be absolutely above [the others]. It will be down to consistency.

"This is the period, January, February, March, where every game is a battle for everybody because everybody fights for something"

"Chelsea looked always dangerous and Man City looked for me a bit jaded," he went on. "They were not as fluent or as strong physically as they were at Tottenham but it could have gone to 1-1, it could have gone 2-0 for Chelsea.

"At the end of the day, they [Chelsea] had 65 per cent possession with 25 shots on goal so sometimes that can be a 1-1 [draw], but I must say Chelsea had opportunities for the 2-0 [win]."

Those of an Arsenal persuasion watched Monday's big game from a position of strength after the Gunners did their job on Sunday against a stubborn Crystal Palace side.

"I feel we restricted them to very few chances," said Wenger. "I've seen them in some other games, in every single game they created good chances and we restricted them to very few.

"But the patience and the serene attitude we have shown, and the intelligence as well, got us through a difficult game.

"At the moment this is the period, January, February, March, where every game is a battle for everybody because everybody fights for something. You just want to win the games."