Former Ireland midfielder Keith Andrews believes Arsenal's decision to temporarily put aside their principles helped them to beat Manchester City.

The Gunners had far less possession than usual in the 2-0 win at the Etihad yesterday, playing on the counter-attack and defending in numbers.

Andrews was on co-commentary for Off The Ball's live coverage and reviewing the game with Dave McIntrye post-match, he noted the change in principles.

"Against the bottom half of the Premier League, they don't need plan B. Their plan A works more often than not. Going away to the teams like this, [Wenger] needs to have that little bit of a different mentality going into the game, being a little bit more respectful," said Andrews.

"I said before the game about whether they would drop their egos in terms of letting Man City have the ball. They're a team that like to dominate possession, Arsenal. They forfeited that today for the greater good. And the greater good was a 2-0 victory.

Listen to Andrews' full analysis  (2 minutes 20 seconds in) via the Monday Rewind podcast below or download on iTunes: