The Gunners inflicted the first Premier League defeat of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United reign when they won 2-0 to move back into the top four.
And keeper Leno insists it was sweet revenge for their 3-1 FA Cup defeat in January when Jesse Lingard celebrated his goal with a cheeky moon-walk in front of the Arsenal fans.
“You never forget a celebration like that and we were motivated not to see that sort of thing again,” Leno admitted.
“We knew before the game that they were ahead of us in the table and if we’d have lost it would have been much more difficult for us to get into the Champions League.
“So that was all the motivation we needed and now are two points ahead of United and in a much better position.
“We are back in the top four and now it’s the other teams who must wait for our mistakes.
“There are still eight games to go and we don’t face any of the top six teams so I can think we can beat the others and our aim is to win all our remaining fixtures.
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“It’s three weeks before our next League game against Newcastle and that is another opportunity for us to win and to stay in the top four.”
Leno, a £19.2million signing from Bayer Leverkusen last summer, believes that yesterday’s win will also play a big part in helping to turn around their 3-1 Europa League deficit against Rennes on Thursday night.
The German international has not played in Europe for the Gunners this season yet still appreciates how important the competition is for the club.
He says: “The win against United means we won’t have so much pressure for this game against Rennes. The atmosphere at the stadium will be much more positive.
“Now everybody has confidence because we are very strong at home and I think that Rennes will have seen this performance and will come here with more respect.
“It was difficult for us to be positive after last week’s defeat in France. It wasn’t a great night for us and our mentality wasn’t the best.
“But now we have given the kind of performance we know we are capable of and everyone is feeling very positive.”
Leno, 27, gave arguably his best performance in an Arsenal shirt to keep a rare clean sheet against United on Sunday.
And he says: “I think I’ve played a good season and I’ve felt for a long time now that I have adapted to this team.
“It’s my first season in England and of course I’ve needed time to settle in, especially as a goalkeeper because here we are not as protected as much as we are in Germany and other European countries.
“The manager gave me the time to adapt and when I got the chance I played well and he told me I would stay in goal.
“I’m pleased to play for Arsenal and I want to give the club something back with my performances.”
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