Andrey Arshavin claims Manchester United were lucky to beat Arsenal and insists his side are far from out of the title race.

Park Ji-sung helped United to preserve an unbeaten run with a 1-0 win at Old Trafford - consigning the Gunners to a fifth Barclays Premier League defeat of the season.

Arshavin rued his side's inability to break down the home defence but revealed the post-match dressing-room chat had already turned to reversing the result when the two teams meet at the business end of the season in April.

'Of course we are disappointed,' said the Russia forward. 'The aftertaste of this defeat remains.

'But we have no time to indulge in melancholy and sadness, we have to forget this defeat and start thinking about our next game.

'We must beat Stoke (on Saturday). We have a very interesting championship this year, nothing is lost yet.'

United leapfrogged Arsenal at the top of the table with the win, taking a two-point lead with a game in hand on the Gunners.

Park showed great agility to loop his 41st-minute header into the net from Nani's deflected cross, but the nature of the goal irked Arshavin.

'I think United were more fortunate, whereas we were unable to create anything special or dangerous in front of goal,' said the 29-year-old.

'(Marouane) Chamakh had a chance to score, but Nemanja Vidic managed to stop the ball with some cat-like jump.

'If it hadn't been for this crazy ricochet at the end of the first half, we would have gone in at half-time with the score 0-0, and then it would have been easier for us to play in the second half of the match.

'We weren't playing for the draw. We simply tried to act responsibly in defence. It was an away game, we were thinking how not to concede and at the same time we were looking for chances to score.'

Wojciech Szczesny has declared his intention to seize the unexpected chance handed to him by Arsene Wenger despite Arsenal's 1-0 defeat at Manchester United.

The 20-year-old leapt to the head of Wenger's keeper queue at Old Trafford when Wenger made him his No.1 due to concerns over Lukasz Fabianski's hip problem.

It was a remarkable show of faith in the youngster, who had previously played just three Carling Cup games for the Gunners.

However, the bold move did not pay dividends as Arsenal slumped to a disappointing loss.


Safe hands: Szczesny wants Wenger to give him a chance on a regular basis

The defeat leaves Wenger's side two points behind United in the Barclays Premier League table, having played a game more.

Wenger said afterwatfs he was satisfied with Szczesny's contribution and Szczesny himself is determined not to slip quietly back into the shadows.

'I am a reserve goalkeeper at the moment so I need to take every chance I get and this was a massive chance for me,' he said.

'I felt that for my debut I did well enough. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for us to get any points but this is my big chance and I need to take it. It was a disappointing result, but we won't get too down. We are still very confident.

'We believe if we recover on Saturday and put in the right performance against Stoke we could easily get three points and be back in the title race straight away.


'Unlucky'? Szczesny performed well but was beaten by Park for United's winner

'That is what the manager told us afterwards; he just tried to get us to focus on the match on Saturday. This game is gone. The team performance was quite good, but we just didn't get as much luck as United.'

Szczesny also claimed Park Ji-sung's winning goal was a 'fluke' after the United midfielder angled his body to reach Nani's deflected cross before sending it looping into the Arsenal's net.

'Their goal was really lucky,' he said. I don't think Park meant to head the ball, it just hit him and went in the top corner.'

Szczesny claims United were far from superior on Monday, adding: 'We are still confident we are the top side in the Premier League.

'Manchester United are beatable. Everyone is. The Premier League is very tight this year. They do have a solid back four, I will admit that, but they are beatable.'