Jack Wilshere revels in Arsenal’s ‘fantastic’ win at Newcastle

Jack Wilshere praised Arsenal’s resilience after their battling win at Newcastle saw them reclaim top spot in the Premier League.

After a goalless first half at St James’ Park, Olivier Giroud’s deft header from Theo Walcott’s free-kick broke the deadlock in the 65th minute.

You’ve seen big teams come here and lose. Today we really had to dig deep

Jack Wilshere

The Magpies rallied as the game reached its conclusion but the Gunners held firm to ensure they head into 2014 top of the table and one point ahead of second-placed Manchester City.

“It’s a fantastic result,” Wilshere told Sky Sports.

“You’ve seen big teams come here and lose. Today we really had to dig deep.

“We don’t normally score from set-plays but we got one and we’ll take that. It’s a great three points.

“I suppose it is [significant be top of the league heading into 2014]. We want to be top at the end of the season, that’s when it counts.

“But if we can stay top from now until the end of the season it will be great. We’ve got some tough games coming up but we’ll go again.”

Meanwhile, striker Giroud revealed his delight at finding the net again as he notched up his eighth league goal of the season.

“I missed some chances to score in recent games so I was really focused on my job today and I really wanted to score,” said Giroud. “It’s always nice to win two games and stay top of the league.”