Martin Odegaard said Arsenal were motivated by revenge after they thrashed Newcastle United to keep in touch with Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners suffered their first league defeat of the season in controversial fashion at St James' Park back in November.
Anthony Gordon's winner was subject to an unusual triple VAR check which took several minutes as officials checked whether the ball had gone out, for a foul and an offside before awarding it.
Manager Mikel Arteta described the VAR decision as 'embarrassing' and a 'disgrace' while Arsenal also felt Bruno Guimaraes was fortunate to escape a red card for an elbow on Jorginho.