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Koscielny pleased with 'important' win

Cape Town - Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny was happy after his team's win at Middlesbrough on Monday, saying it was important for the Gunners to hit back after four straight defeats away from home.

Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil scored the goals while Alvaro Negredo hit the net for Boro as Arsenal secured a 2-1 Premier League win to keep their slim hopes of finishing in the top four alive.

"It was important. We were in a bad situation and we needed to come back with our quality," he told TV cameras after the game.

"It was not perfect but I think it's good to come back with the win. It's good for the confidence. It'll come back slowly but it was very important to win."

The win leaves Arsenal seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City with a game in hand.

Forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, meanwhile, said Arsenal had gone back to basics after allowing their standards to slip.

"What we've done hasn't been good enough. We need to take responsibility for that," he said.

"We needed to go out and get back to the basics and that's making sure our commitment levels were right.

"It's a massive honour to play for Arsenal and maybe those levels have slipped."

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