Gunners Can Finish Above Man City, Says Arsenal Star

Apr 09, 2012 12:13 PM EDT

Arsenal's Polish international goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny thinks his team can catch second-placed Manchester City, after their 1-0 victory over Roberto Mancini's side at the Emirates on Sunday.

Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta's late winner boosted Arsenal's hopes of claiming a Champions League spot as they moved two points ahead of local rivals Tottenham. The Gunners are now third, a full 10 points behind City with only six matches left in the season.

However, Szczesny feels that with the momentum on the Gunners' side, they might be able to pip City to a second-place finish.

"I believe we will finish third," Goal.com quoted the Pole as saying, adding, "Man City have lost their chance of the title - it was a big blow to us last year and they might drop a little bit, so who knows maybe we can catch them as well. Our aim is to win every game and if we do that we will be in the Champions League next year."

The 21 year old, who admitted the home crowd played a big role on Sunday, feels Arsenal completely deserved the win, despite leaving it to a very late goal.

"I thought we deserved to win from start to finish. Joe Hart made some good saves, we were unlucky at times but I'm sure even the Man City players would admit we deserved to win. We played them a few months ago at their place and they were fantastic, as good as we have faced this season, so I was expecting a busy game. But I will take my clean sheet, even if I had nothing to do. I was very pleased with the defensive performance of the back four and the whole team," Szczesny said.

Sunday's victory was Arsenal's eighth in nine matches and the keeper says the team has shown signs of improvement throughout the season.

"We have shown that when we are put under pressure we can deal with it. We had very difficult times at the start of the season and managed to get through it and the team spirit is obvious for all to see. We take advantage of it to win games like this and this is the fifth game in the last few months where we have won it at the end. The team is doing well, the atmosphere is good and it shows out there on the pitch," the Pole added.

Arsenal travel to the Molineux on Wednesday, to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in their next league game.

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