Published: 20 December, 2012
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger is urging his team to enjoy a momentous Christmas and continue their climb up the Premier League table.
The Gunners returned to form on Monday when a Santi Cazorla hat-trick and strikes from Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott sealed a 5-2 victory away at Reading.

Wenger was pleased with the performance, and now wants Arsenal to maintain their momentum and prove to one and all that they are good enough to challenge for honours this season.

“Let’s not forget in the Premier League, in the last six games we lost against Swansea and that’s it,” he said. “We had a very positive game against West Brom. In between, we had that Bradford game in the Capital One Cup and that of course created a lot of unrest.

“What is important for us now is to go from strength to strength. We have a lot of targets and if we can continue to play that kind of game, we have a chance to come back.

“Football rewards teams that play quality football and that’s what we want to focus on. We now go to Wigan, it’s another difficult place but we can do well again.”

Meanwhile Arsenal raised in excess of £200,000 from their dedicated charity matchday against West Bromwich Albion.

The fantastic final sum of £203,237.23 will help the club’s grant-giving arm to continue supporting a range of local and international education and sport projects that aim to transform young people’s lives, including those of Arsenal in the Community and the club’s global charity partner Save the Children.

To announce the landmark total, Arsenal’s Spanish duo Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla (pictured) posed in their festive woollies to mark the Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day. Supporters can still make a donation to The Arsenal Foundation by visiting www.justgiving.com/thearsenalfoundation or by texting AFCF12 plus the amount (eg £2) to 70070.