Arsenal secured UEFA Champions League football with a game to spare after overcoming Newcastle United 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Gunners welcomed back Declan Rice from injury and started him in place of the suspended Mikel Merino, while Alexander Isak’s injury opened the door for Callum Wilson to return for the Magpies.
Arsenal made a solid start and could’ve gone ahead through a glancing header from the area by Thomas Partey following Bukayo Saka’s corner-kick, but Nick Pope showed a strong save.
Eddie Howe’s men threatened minutes later when a rasping shot from a clever angle by Harvey Barnes deflected off William Saliba and forced goalkeeper David Raya to palm away.
Raya remained busy ahead of the final quarter and produced a succession of saves to thwart promising attempts from point-blank range by Dan Burn and Sven Botman.
Arsenal regained momentum ten minutes to the break as Ben White nodded an in-swinging corner from Gabriel Martinelli across the face of the area, but Burn cleared effectively.
The Gunners manager Mikel Arteta decided to run the changes at halftime and introduced Riccardo Calafiori ahead of their fellow defender Saliba.
The changed did not affect their momentum, as Rice opened the scoring by latching onto a lay-off Martin Odegaard and sent a finish beyond a diving Pope.
Odegaard looked to double their lead moments later through a surging delivery to the six-yard box, but a solid defensive-clearance by Fabian Schar denied him.
Arteta refreshed on-field personnel once more, with Kai Havertz coming on to replace Saka for his 150th league appearance.
Both teams enjoyed chances in the closing minutes, but neither capitalised as the Gunners claimed all the points to leave Newcastle’s top-five hopes hanging.
