Arsenal moved four points clear of Everton in the race for the fourth and final UEFA Champions League place with a convincing 3-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday.
A rare strike by defender Laurent Koscielny opened the scoring at the Emirates Stadium, before Mesut Ozil netted for the 10th time this season and Olivier Giroud sealed the victory with his 21st goal of the campaign to boost the Gunners’ hopes of a 17th successive season in Europe’s premier club competition.
Arsene Wenger’s side now require just one more victory from their final two league matches against West Bromwich Albion or Norwich City to book their spot.
Photo: Reuters
“We had some problems at the start of the game, trying to find our way through the defense. When we found an opening we became stronger,” Gunners boss Wenger told Sky Sports.
In truth, visitors Newcastle had goalkeeper Tim Krul to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable as Alan Pardew, back on the touchline after a seven-game absence due to suspension, saw his side suffer a sixth successive league defeat — the northeast club’s worst run in the top flight since 1986-1987.
“It was tough for us tonight,” said Pardew, whose side remain ninth. “We dug in, worked hard and tried to offer a threat, but they were too good. We need to focus on finishing in the top 10.”
“We’re going to work hard in the summer to make sure we have a team that can make this city proud,” he said. “I’m looking at the job as a long-term opportunity for myself.”
While followers of fifth-placed Everton were cheering on Newcastle in the hope they could do them a favor, the blue half of Merseyside was disappointed as Arsenal, with the FA Cup final against Hull City at Wembley on May 17 confined to the back of their minds, dominated throughout.
The Gunners, with Aaron Ramsey and Ozil back in the groove after injuries, looked slicker and sharper, and it was little surprise when the north London side took the lead in the 26th minute.
Moussa Sissoko needlessly pulled down Giroud and Santi Cazorla’s pin-point delivery allowed Koscielny to nip in at the back post and flick home his second goal of the season.
Arsenal almost doubled their advantage two minutes later when Lukas Podolski saw his effort from an acute angle on the left side of the penalty area turned around the post by Krul’s legs.
Krul came to the rescue once again on the half-hour mark when the Dutch goalkeeper produced an excellent save to keep out Podolski’s header from point-blank range, but the second goal Arsenal had been threatening arrived three minutes before the interval.
Giroud broke Newcastle’s offside trap to latch onto Mikel Arteta’s through-ball and the striker was twice denied by Krul, only for Ozil to tap home the rebound. Replays did show that Ozil was in an offside position when he converted, but the goal stood.
Arsenal maintained the pressure early in the second period, Cazorla hitting a volley over the crossbar and Bacary Sagna heading over.
Newcastle, whose supporters began to turn on manager Pardew, could have halved the deficit in the 58th minute when Yoan Gouffran raced clear onto Loic Remy’s pass, but his shot was straight at Gunners goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The misery continued for Pardew as the hosts scored a simple third goal when the unmarked Giroud headed home from Ozil’s left-wing cross.
That sparked a series of growing chants from the away section of the ground, such as “Next excuse, Pardew?” and “Pardew Out” as the pressure increased on the Newcastle manager.
However, for Wenger and Arsenal it was a good job, well done as they took another major step toward Champions League qualification.
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Manchester City have confirmed defender Josko Gvardiol suffered a broken leg in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium. Gvardiol was one of two City centerbacks who went off injured in the second half, along with Ruben Dias, before Enzo Fernandez scored a stoppage-time equalizer for the visitors. The draw left second-placed City six points behind English Premier League leaders Arsenal. City, announcing Gvardiol sustained a tibial fracture to his right leg, added in a statement issued on Monday: “The defender will have surgery later this week and assessment remains ongoing to ascertain the full extent of the
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
RSS