Arsenal stole a second-place finish in the Premier League at the expense of rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who concluded a memorable season with a miserable result at Newcastle United.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side collapsed to an embarrassing 5-1 defeat at St James’ Park, which allowed their north London rivals to leapfrog them and celebrate St Totteringham’s Day – the day when Arsenal have gathered enough points to assure a finish ahead of Spurs.
Tottenham, who have not finished above The Gunners since 1995, began the day knowing that even a draw would be enough to break the 21-year-long record.
However, first-half strikes from Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic had them behind at the break.
Erik Lamela dragged his side back into the game in the second half and Spurs’ hopes of a comeback were boosted when Mitrovic was sent off for a wild challenge on Kyle Walker.
Shortly after, however, the floodgates opened. The 10-man Magpies, relegated from the top-flight earlier this week, rallied to score three late goals.
Wijnaldum converted from the spot after a questionable penalty was award for Moussa Sissoko’s fall in the box. Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat then scored in quick succession to pile misery on Spurs.
At the Emirates, meanwhile, Olivier Giroud’s hat-trick and late Mark Bunn own goal sealed the three points that Arsenal needed to supplant their local rivals.
The Gunners subsequently finished in the top two for the first time since 2005, when they were runners-up to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2015 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
