Per Mertesacker says Arsenal's stunning start against Manchester United was a reminder as to how good they can really be.

Following a difficult week, Arsenal hit back at their critics with a wonderful 3-0 victory over rivals United on Sunday and it was a scintillating 15-minute blitz from the Gunners in the first half which saw them claim the comfortable win.

Arsenal's stunning display of attacking football in the first half was certainly a joy to watch and defender Mertesacker has now gone on to state that he was not surprised by Arsenal's sensational performance.

Mertesacker said: "I think it was vital for us to stay [near] the top of the Premier League. The distance between us and the top is not far, so it was vital. Also the way we started the game was good for us and very important.

"Yes, we pushed really hard in the first ten or 15 minutes, and after that we tried to defend as well as possible, and most of the time we did that. The start was not shocking for us, I think we are capable of doing that, but we have to kind of remind ourselves that we can do such things."

Alexis Sanchez backed up his hat-trick against Leicester City last week by netting a double either side of Mesut Ozil's 7th-minute goal as Arsene Wenger's men move to second on the league table.