Per Mertesacker stepped in for the injured Laurent Koscielny in Sunday’s match against Manchester United and described the 3-0 win as ‘vital’ for our title hopes.

The performance was by far Arsenal’s best of the season and for it to come against Manchester United who, before the game, sat in second in the Premier League, makes a huge statement of intent.

The BFG was over the moon with the display as it puts us that much closer to the top of the table, only two points behind leaders Manchester City.

“I think it was vital for us to stay [near] the top of the Premier League,” he said.

“The distance between us and the top is not far, so it was vital. Also the way we started the game was good for us and very important.”

Meanwhile, title favourites Chelsea dropped yet more points against Southampton at home and are now all the way down in 16th with just eight points.

No teams appear safe at the moment, with title contenders all dropping points.

Hopefully after this huge victory we can carry on and be more consistent, ensuring that if other teams are dropping points at least we won’t.