Mikel Arteta thinks Sunday's win over Newcastle United proves Arsenal are focused on the Premier League.

With an eye on Thursday's semi-final second leg against Villarreal, in which they are down 2-1 on aggregate, Arteta made eight changes ahead of the clash at St James' Park.

But goals from Mohamed Elneny and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw Arsenal claim all three points, and Arteta was delighted about the professionalism shown by his players.

"This game showed our focus is still there in the Premier League," Arteta told Sky Sports. "We believe that anything is possible if you're picking up points and we wanted to put bad results out of the way.

"We refreshed the team because we've played so many games. Thursday was very demanding, but the team was really committed and focused on this game and that's why we won.

"We had a great attitude, some moments of real quality and had total control from the start. We controlled the game and we accelerated when it was needed. The early goal gave us confidence which we needed after the defeat on Thursday.

"We have to do as well as we can and finish as high as we can. You need big performances and we had that today."