Going top has taken away pain of our 5-1 defeat at Spurs, says Arsenal's Hleb - Sport - Evening Standard
       

Going top has taken away pain of our 5-1 defeat at Spurs, says Arsenal's Hleb

Alexander Hleb believes Arsenal's recent form has helped to erase the memory of getting thrashed at Tottenham - and has backed Emmanuel Adebayor to help continue the run on Saturday against Manchester United.

Arsene Wenger's side have won four on the spin since they lost 5-1 in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final at White Hart Lane last month.

It is a sequence of results which has taken them five points clear at the top of the Barclays Premier League.

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Hleb: Arsenal 'can extend their winning run' at Old Trafford in the FA Cup

Arsenal travel to Old Trafford for their FA Cup fifth-round clash against United at the weekend and midfielder Hleb is certain victory there will ensure that the Spurs defeat becomes a distant memory.

Hleb said: "It was very important for us to get things right again after the Spurs defeat.

"Sometimes matches like that one happen in football - maybe we didn't have the right level of concentration, it's difficult to say.

"It seemed to me that they maybe wanted the win more than we did. But then, it was as if every shot they took went in."

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Cockerel crowing: Spurs players celebrate their 5-1 win over Arsenal

Full-back Gael Clichy also felt the performances have atoned for the defeat to their rivals.

He added: "I think it was really important to do that, for the fans and the club.

"So we have to carry on like this - combining that spirit with the kind of game we play, then we can achieve great things this season."

Arsenal remain in three competitions, with AC Milan their opponents in the Champions League next week.

Central to their hopes of silverware is Adebayor, the Togo international striker who has scored in his last nine games for his club.

"He's in fantastic form. It's great for him and great for the team," Hleb added.

"Now with important games such as Manchester United and AC Milan and others coming up, it's ideal to have a striker who is taking his chances whichever way they come and showing such all-round ability.

"Everything is coming off for him at the moment."

Adebayor himself has said there are no thoughts of a treble yet, a view shared by right-back Bacary Sagna.

"It's different but we're taking it from game to game and we're trying to win every game," Sagna told Arsenal TV.

"That's the secret. It will be my first time at Old Trafford, I'd like to win."

Former Gunners winger Robert Pires, part of the squad when they won the title in 2006, hopes Wenger's men will pick up silverware this season.

However, he also feel United have a squad to push the title race to the wire.

"What they are achieving is beautiful in terms of the way they play and I wish them to win something, the Premier League title or the Champions League," Pires told setantasports.com.

"I think that they can (challenge United), but the major difference is the depth of the bench at United."

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