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'The fans had to be as patient as us'

Wojciech Szczesny says the patience of Arsenal's fans was a factor in their 2-0 win over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side could not find a way past their London rivals in a low-key first half at Emirates Stadium, but a second-half brace from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ended Palace's resistance and took Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League.

The Gunners stuck to their principles to get the right result and, according to Szczesny, the supporters played their part.

"We had to be very patient and the fans had to be patient as well"

"The last few games were exactly the same, where teams come here to defend," he told Arsenal Player. "We had to be very patient and the fans had to be patient as well.

"In the end we got our rewards and the fans went home very happy so I think it's a little bit easier for them to be behind us right now. We appreciate their support, we try to do our best to please them in every single way so it's a very good relationship that we have with the fans."

Arsenal could lose top spot on Monday night when Manchester City host Chelsea - and Szczesny might change his usual habits to tune in.

"I try not to watch games at home," he admitted. "I try to focus on my own football and my own team. I don't watch football very often.

"If it's a big Champions League game then I watch it but Premier League... not really. Of course we know it's a big game for the table, we know that Man City have had a fantastic record at home so they will be favourites. I might make an exception and watch this one at home.

"But it doesn't really matter who's top right now. Of course we're there now, it might change [on Monday] but what we care about is who's going to be at the top at the end of the season.

"We just try to take it game by game. We've got a couple of difficult fixtures now but we look at it as chance for us to create an even bigger gap between us and the teams behind us. We're looking forward to it and we're very positive."

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