Robin van Persie has admitted that he was surprised by the slip-up made by John Terry that allowed him to put his Arsenal side in front at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.

The goal, Van Persie's second of the afternoon, put the visiting Gunners 4-3 up against Chelsea, while the Dutchman completed his hattrick in stoppage time.

"I was quite surprised because it was just an easy back-pass," Van Persie told Sky Sports News. "I only saw it late the he had slipped.

"I suddenly realised in a couple hundredths of a second that I was one-on-one with Cech.

"I had a couple of things in my mind what to do but I did the easiest thing and went past [Cech]."

The Arsenal captain also believes that his teammates showed "great character" to record the 5-3 win.

"You could see how happy we are because we fought hard for this," he added. "Everyone showed great character."

Van Persie has now scored 28 goals in 27 Premier League matches this year.