A fantastic performance and a win against United

How was it to leave the pitch with such result?
Fantastic, we were all really happy. We knew this was a six point match. Manchester City had won the day before and we needed three points to be able to keep up. Plus United are now our direct competition as far as the title is concerned. It was a crucial win as we have now caught up with ManU.

The table must be a pleasure to look at now. You’re second, ahead of Manchester United.
Yes, it is, but it doesn’t really matter if we’re second or fourth. The important part is that we’re two points from the leader of the table—a position we were looking to get in.

What did you think about Arsenal’s opening burst which took your opponent by such surprise?
We knew that ManU would attempt to control the game, and so we wanted to give them as much trouble as possible right off the start. We scored two quick goals which instantly gave us a massive advantage. We knew things were going our way when we scored the third one.

Did you know that was it for the match?
We might have been in a 3-0 lead but there was still 70 minutes left, which is quite a bit. It was definitely too early to succumb to some kind of comfort. We had to keep it up and avoid making mistakes, which would have brought ManU back into the game. The fact that we maintained the lead and didn’t concede after the interval was decisive.

Also thanks to you, since you managed to avert Martial’s strike which was bound to go in.
He had his back to the goal and I ran out to get close before he was able to turn around. I was there just in time to stick my leg in the way.

Yet, United never gave in, they played their best until the end.
They knew they had nothing to lose. They made two changes in their line-up and pushed forward more. There were about two strikes and one scoring opportunity by Schweinsteiger, but we continued to be disciplined and could theoretically have scored more.

Was this one of the best Arsenal games?
One of the most successful ones, for sure. It was perfect in every way. Now we’re in a good state of mind for our national team meetings—we managed to achieve what we wanted.