Danny Welbeck felt for his former Arsenal teammates after Brighton's win on Sunday.
The 3-0 trouncing effectively ends Arsenal's title chances.
Welbeck said, "It was very important we responded after the last game. We stuck to our morals, played our football and got a great victory at the end of the day.
"It's not something that happens by luck. We work hard during the week and today it's paid off. We got the goals on top of the performance and it's a great day for the club. It puts us in a great position and we want to push on.
"It is a tough one [for Arsenal to take]. I have a great affiliation with the club, I loved my time here and everyone's always given me a good reception when I've come back. But it's football and you have to remain professional and we've done that today.
"The season's not over yet. We want to finish strongly, as best as we can. The manager never lets us think we've done enough. We've improved again this year and want to keep improving, keep pushing on."