Arsenal reclaim north London dominance as Tottenham fold on the Tyne
Fuming Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino scolded his players after their shock 5-1 defeat at 10-man Newcastle saw them finish behind Arsenal in the Premier League for a 21st consecutive season.
Spurs only needed a point to cap an encouraging season by clinching second place but their unexpected thrashing by the already-relegated Magpies allowed their north London rivals to overtake them on the final day with a comfortable 4-0 home win over bottom side Aston Villa.
Tottenham looked to have a chance of salvaging a draw when goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic was sent off moments after Erik Lamela had brought Spurs back to 2-1. But Giorginio Wijnaldum scored a second and Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat also netted as the visitors folded.
“Today it wasn’t about football, tactics, or skill, it was about mentality,” said Pochettino. “We weren’t here, we were on holiday; this is the reality, we cannot hide. We are third in the table. At the beginning of the season our challenge was to be in the top four – fantastic, but in the future we need to change a lot and be strong. It cannot happen again.”
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, meanwhile, plundered a hat-trick as the Gunners finished an unconvincing performance with a flourish to maintain manager Arsene Wenger’s record of never placing below Spurs.
An own goal by Villa goalkeeper Mark Bunn completed the scoring in a match that also served as a farewell to ageing midfielder trio Mikel Arteta, Tomas Rosicky and Mathieu Flamini, who are all set to leave.
“We did not start the season saying we want to finish above Tottenham,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. “We wanted to win the league and there is a frustration because we didn’t win the league. Today, we could only play with the target we had and the only one we had before the game was to finish second. We achieved it.”