Monday 21 December 2015 23:09, UK
Mesut Ozil believes Arsenal can secure the Premier League title if they continue to play their game following a 2-1 victory over Manchester City on Monday Night Football.
The German midfielder recorded his 14th and 15th assists of the season in a man-of-the-match show at the Emirates, setting up Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud as the Gunners went two goals ahead in the first half.
Yaya Toure set up a nervous last 10 minutes when he pulled a goal back late on, but Ozil says Arsenal can compete for top spot if they continue to perform in the big games against their top rivals.
"We believe in ourselves," Ozil told Sky Sports. "If you see the games against the big clubs, we won against them so we know our quality, if we play our game we can win the league. We will give our best all the season for the title.
"We have had a lot of difficult games, we are happy to win against Man City and we take the three points. All the team are happy and me too.
"I'm happy to help the team, on the pitch I can play my game so I just try to help. Today was again an important game and I tried to give my best."
Walcott, who scored his third league goal of the season against City, was full of praise for his team-mate after the final whistle, and the Arsenal forward says it's a joy to play alongside a player like Ozil.
"The thing about Mesut is he sees things, he sees things that other players don't see on the pitch," Walcott said.
"He knows what you're going to do before you do it, you just have to make that run and when you have special players on the pitch you get special moments and it makes our job so much easier. It's a team game but you need these players in your team.
"The amount he gives to this squad, the threat going forward and defensively as well. He puts a shift in that people won't see, everyone is working tremendously hard. It's difficult when you don't play for eight or nine days to try and get up for it, and I think the guys are going to be knackered."
The Gunners scored twice in the 15 minutes before half-time and looked in control before Toure's stunning left-foot finish halved the deficit on 82 minutes, and Walcott admitted his side were caught out.
"You have to hold on for 10 minutes, Manchester City had a lot of the ball, [and] everybody did their defensive duties today," Walcott added. "That goal was a stunning goal, it came out of nowhere and we didn't really get threatened [before].
"It was a special moment for Yaya, but we managed to stay strong. We didn't get that clean sheet that we desperately wanted for Petr [Cech], but we got the three points and that is all that matters in the title race."
