Gabriel Jesus pointed to Arsenal's mentality as the reason for their thumping win over Aston Villa.

Jesus scored the fourth goal in the Gunners' 4-1 victory against their title rivals, moving them five points clear of Manchester City, who face Sunderland on New Year's Day.

Arsenal will end the calendar year at the top of the Premier League for the seventh time, the joint-most of any side, along with Liverpool and Manchester United.

And their 4-1 win was the biggest margin of victory in a Premier League match between two sides starting the day in the top three since Manchester City beat Arsenal themselves in April 2023.

Jesus, who also netted his first goal since January 1, believes Arsenal are growing stronger with each victory this season.

"I think it was amazing. It's always hard to play against them. They have brilliant players," Jesus told Sky Sports.

"They come here all the time, they hurt us. And it was clear early in the game they were trying to delay the game. Everyone could see that.

"The mentality of the team is really, really growing and each game is growing even more and I think we are winning today because of the mentality."

After a nervy first half, Arsenal hit their stride when Gabriel Magalhaes managed to turn Bukayo Saka's corner home after a mistake from Emiliano Martinez.

The defender, making his first start since November, scored his 19th Premier League goal for Arsenal, with this the most by any defender since his debut in the competition in September 2020.

Overall, Laurent Koscielny (22) is the only defender with more Premier League goals for the Gunners than the Brazilian (19).

"I said after the last game when they asked me about him [Gabriel], the moment he stepped on the pitch you could see the difference of our backline," Jesus added.

"The way we defend. He loves to defend the way I love to attack and he loves to score goals as well."