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| Per Mertesacker celebrates after Arsenal beat Manchester City |
PER MERTESACKER has warned Arsenal that they now have to prove their title credentials by not slipping up against the Premier League “minnows.”
The Gunners took a huge step towards their first league title since 2004 on Monday night when they beat fellow challengers Manchester City 2-1 at the Emirates.
It was Arsenal’s third win on the bounce, and they showed a new found resilience as City pressed in the later stages.
Arsene Wenger’s team now face winnable looking holiday games against Southampton on Boxing Day, Bournemouth and Newcastle. Only two points behind current leaders Leicester today, Arsenal now have a golden chance to overhaul Claudio Ranieri’s team.
But they have to make sure that the errors that have led to first half of the season points lost against the likes of West Ham, West Brom and Norwich, have disappeared.
Mertesacker insisted: “We are not saying these are going to be easy games – that is not our approach or how we see the season.
“It is going to be difficult and we need to stay concentrated, the Christmas period is the most important now, and it is up to us to keep that consistency.
“We were delighted with the win. We had to dig in, especially in the last 20/30 minutes because we didn’t score the third, and especially at the end it was a bit hectic, but we went over the line.
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| Olivier Giroud scored Arsenal's second goal against Man City |
"We haven't proven anything yet and we haven't been so consistent that we can talk about that – that is my opinion.
“We go game by game and concentrate on having a game plan and trying to implement it. That has been our strength so far against the big teams, and it makes us stronger as a unit.
We face the next challenge on Boxing Day, and this is obviously a very busy time but we have shown strength - and the depth of the squad is vital at the minute.”
Arsenal played a more cagey, containing game for large parts of the match against City, in contrasting to their more ususal flowing attacking style – and it paid off.
Mertesacker added: “Last January we won 2-0 at City and we showed a different kind of game-plan.
“That is what we had in the locker already but this year we are more consistent and it is what makes us better as a unit.
“Sometimes we need to adjust. We think that is best way to win against City but we need to trust that way as well – it is not only thinking about it, it is also about putting it in to practice.
“That is what we are doing really well at the minute but that means a lot of concentration and work in training. When I see our players up front working as hard as they did on Monday that makes a difference for us defenders, it makes it much more easier to defend our goal.”
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