Laurent Koscielny still has “special" memories of Arsenal’s win at Newcastle United in May 2013.
The central defender scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at St James’ Park, with his second-half effort securing a place in the top four ahead of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
“It was the last game of the season,” the defender told Arsenal Player. “We were just in front of Tottenham and if we won against Newcastle, we would qualify for the Champions League.
“I scored and we won 1-0. It was a special day because for Arsenal, playing in the Champions League is always vital and a very exciting competition to play in so we were very happy with this.”
Koscielny says Arsenal are determined to go into the international break with a victory at the weekend.
“We lost two points at home and we need to win so it will be a difficult game, like every time we go to Newcastle,” he added. “It’s a hard game but we need to be focused on our quality, on our game, play with pressure on our opponent, score some goals and win.
“The most important is to come back to London with the three points. After you have the international break so we need to finish August with a win.”
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