Newcastle vs Arsenal: Gunners beaten again in top-four collapse

Newcastle vs Arsenal: The Magpies dealt perhaps the final blow to the Gunners’ top-four hopes with a 2-0 victory at St. James’ Park on Monday.

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Arsenal’s (66 points) second defeat in five days sees them slip to 5th in the Premier League table, two points behind north London rivals Tottenham (68 points), with one game left to play. Arsenal will host relegation-battling Everton, with Tottenham visiting already-relegated, last-place Norwich City at the same time on Championship Sunday.

Newcastle (46 points), meanwhile, have jumped from 14th to 12th with the victory. A top-half finish is still on the table for the Magpies, who trail 9th- and 10th-place Leicester City and Brighton & Hove Albion (48 points each) by two.

Final score: Newcastle 2, Arsenal 0

Goal scorers: Newcastle (White 55′ – OG, Guimaraes 85′), Arsenal (None)

Shots: Newcastle 16, Arsenal 11

Shots on target: Newcastle 4, Arsenal 2

Possession: Newcastle 51%, Arsenal 49%

1. Occasion too big for Arsenal: Just as was the case in the north London derby on Thursday, the pressure of being favorites — the expectation, and the fear of “blowing it” — appeared far too much for this young Arsenal side, who were consistently nothing short of brilliant in the run-up to the run-in. But, on Monday, they were slow in thought and in action, timid in their approach, increasingly shorthanded in their numbers as the game wore on and, ultimately, second-best to a side that just a few months ago was a legitimate relegation candidate. With three games to go in the season, they held a four-point lead. With one game to go, they trail by two. Only a Tottenham loss to Norwich will give Arsenal a final shot at Champions League qualification.

Top-4