Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has praised the team's fighting spirit following their 2-1 win away to Crystal Palace.

The Spaniard was on the scoresheet on Saturday as the Gunners boosted their hopes of a top-four finish with a narrow victory at Selhurst Park.

Palace made life tough for Arsenal during the final stages of the game, but Cazorla believes that the team showed plenty of grit to grind out the result.

"It was a very good three points for us," he told the club's official website. "It was a difficult game on a very difficult pitch. The team fought together and we need to play the same in the next game.

"In these games it's always very important to focus, because there are a lot of long balls, free kicks and set pieces. We only had problems [with that] in the last two or three minutes but the team today defended very well."

Arsenal return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they host Monaco in the first leg of their last-16 tie.