Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka admits that he and his teammates were fired up to beat Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon following their 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford earlier this season.
The Gunners opened up a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with a pulsating 3-2 win over the Reds, sealed thanks to a late winner from Eddie Nketiah. United had taken an early through Marcus Rashford's 17th goal of the campaign but saw the game flipped on its head less than 10 minutes into the second half, with Saka putting the Gunners 2-1 up after Nketiah's first of the game prior to half-time.
Lisandro Martinez brought United level just a minute before the hour mark and it looked as though his first goal for the club was going to be enough to earn Erik ten Hag's side a respectable point. However, Arsenal piled on the pressure in the latter stages of the contest and found a dramatic winner through Nketiah.
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United, although they offered little in an attacking sense after Martinez's leveller, looked set to frustrate Arsenal for a second time this season, with their victory over Mikel Arteta's side at Old Trafford back in September marking the Gunners' only league defeat this term. And it was that defeat in M16 that made the table-toppers determined to come out on top.
"You can see how much it means to everyone," Saka told Sky Sports. "They're the only team that have beaten us this season so we really wanted to beat them for the fans.
"We know how big this win is for us. It wasn't easy and it definitely wasn't our best start to the game but we showed a lot of character to come back and get the win."
On what is behind Arsenal's success this term, Saka added: "Firstly, the belief we have. Especially at the Emirates with our fans and how they support us.
"We went 1-0 down and they still support, they don't know how much that helps us. It's the way the coach is setting us up, too, and the players the coach has brought in."
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