The Gunners closed to within 10 points of Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester United and six of second-placed Chelsea yesterday when they took advantage of unexpected defeats for both clubs with a 3-1 win at Newcastle.

Wenger later admitted their chances of reeling in the leaders was as little as "one in a billion", although their real battle may lie elsewhere.

Villa have spent much of the season attempting to break their way into the exclusive top-four club, and until successive defeats by Manchester City and Tottenham earlier this month, were making a pretty impressive fist of it.

However, the Gunners' win at St James' Park, which extended their unbeaten league run to 16 games dating back to November, eased them three points clear in fourth place on Saturday evening, and the Frenchman is confident they are in control of the race for a Champions League place.

He said: "The only thing that has changed compared to two weeks ago is that it is in our hands how well we play, so we don't have to focus too much on the results of Aston Villa.

"If you drop your performances a little bit, you are quickly caught - we could have been eight points behind Aston Villa two weeks ago.

"That's why we want to keep our focus and our performances at a high level."

They did just that on Tyneside despite a tricky first hour during which they should have been behind after keeper Manuel Almunia conceded a 23rd-minute penalty for an untidy challenge on Newcastle midfielder Ryan Taylor.

Obafemi Martins, who has been repeatedly linked with the north London club during his time in England, stepped up with Michael Owen sitting on the bench and fired low to Almunia's left from the spot, but the Spaniard was equal to the task.

Wenger later attributed the save to the psychological boost the keeper had gained in the decisive Champions League shoot-out against Roma on March 11.

He said: "Somewhere, I felt that when they got the penalty, Rome helped him just to feel strong on penalties.

"Of course, it's a little bit of a toss-up, but I feel part of a penalty is psychological and on that front, maybe the fact he helped us win the penalties in Rome helped him to have added confidence."

Almunia's intervention provided a platform for his side and when Nicklas Bendtner headed home Andrey Arshavin's 57th-minute free-kick, Arsenal looked to be on their way.

However, the battling Magpies hit back within seconds when Martins atoned for his miss with a good finish to level.

But with defender Steven Taylor receiving treatment off the pitch, Abou Diaby restored the lead with 64 minutes gone and when Samir Nasri made it 3-1 three minutes later, the game was over.

Indeed, had it not been for Newcastle keeper Steve Harper, the margin of victory might have been greater as the visitors eased their way to the final whistle.

Wenger, who acknowledged how well Newcastle had played for an hour, and pointed to their misfortune at losing Steven Taylor and Sebastien Bassong to injury, was thrilled with the way his young side stood up to the challenge.

He said: "We are a very, very young side. The spirit is great, the quality is there and we feel we are going forward from game to game.

"People don't realise how young we are in the Premier league and what we do.

"Today, you had six or seven players between 20 and 22 on the pitch."