Cazorla gives Arsenal 2-1 victory over Aston Villa

Arsenal's third successive league win came after a week of setbacks in cup competitions that saw the Gunners exit the FA Cup against second-tier club Blackburn and lose the first leg of its last-16 Champions League match against Bayern Munich 3-1.

"I am proud of the attitude of the team because we went through some difficult days and responded in a united way," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

In the bid to return to Europe's elite knockout competition next season, Arsenal is now a point behind fourth-place Tottenham ahead of its north London rival's match at West Ham on Monday.

Cazorla put Arsenal ahead after just six minutes but the hosts failed to capitalize on their dominance and Andreas Weimann was able to equalize in the 68th minute.

But Cazorla struck again in the 85th, sweeping in his 11th goal since joining Arsenal in August and giving the home fans something to celebrate after a miserable week.

"We could not afford to drop points. ... We are in a catch-up situation in the Premier League and we have come out of two massive disappointments," Wenger said. "But it was interesting as well to see that we were focused, united, a bit nervous and you could see we played a little bit with the handbrake in some situations because the second goal didn't come.

"We were also strong because when Villa came back to 1-1 we found the resources to respond and win the game."

Villa, however, returned to the relegation zone as Wigan went ahead of them on goal difference, while Newcastle and Southampton are three points further ahead.

"We shouldn't have lost it because I thought we were exceptional and we should have been in the lead at halftime," Villa manager Paul Lambert said.

The fact Cazorla scored so early helped to soothe tensions in the Emirates Stadium crowd, with discontent rumbling during a rare visit by American owner Stan Kroenke, who was wrapped in a blanket in freezing north London.