Arsenal Defeats Newcastle 3-0, Tightens Grip On 4th Place

Arsenal put three goals past a shabby Newcastle team at the Emirates on Monday to strengthen their grip on fourth-place in the Premier League.
Having seen top-four rivals Everton lose to Southampton on Saturday, a win for the Gunners would see them extend their lead over the Merseyside club to four points, and they did not faulter.

Laurent Koscielny had put the home side ahead in the 26th-minute before Mesut Ozil doubled the advantage before half time  and a third from Olivier Giroud rounded up a dominant display for the london club as they set to book their place in Europe for the 17th season in a row.

Pardew making a comeback to the touchline after several weeks out with a ban for headbutting Hull City's David Meyler, will be disappointed with the loss as it will heap more pressure on the team and manager going into the last two matches of the season.

Arsenal remained unchanged from the side that defeated Hull City 3-0 last the last time out, while Newcastle welcome back their top scorer Loic Remy to the starting XI, but it was the hosts who looked more dangerous on the attack in the opening stages.

However, clear-cut opportunities proved difficult to come by for both sides until the 18th minute, when Ozil drilled an effort wide of the right-hand post after Koscielny had collided with goalkeeper Tim Krul in the penalty area.

And defender Koscielny was in the mix in the Newcastle penalty area again eight minutes later as he broke the deadlock, this time making the most of Moussa Sissoko's lacklustre marking to poke home from a Mikel Arteta free-kick.

Lukas Podolski pulled wide of the target as Arsenal chased a quickfire double and the German drew a strong hand from Krul with a powerful header from a corner soon after.

Cheick Tiote fired a replica of his devilish shot in Newcastle's famous 2011 4-4 draw against Arsenal when he stung the palms of Wojciech Szczesny with a thunderbolt of an effort from 35 yards, but did well to put his body behind the ball and keep it out of goal.

Arsenal doubled their lead three minutes before the break. 

Tim Krul pulled a double save from Olivier Giroud's effort but the ball fell kindly for Ozil to tap-in from inside the six-yard box.

Yoan Gouffran surged forward in a rare Newcastle attack 10 minutes into the second half, but Szczesny made himself big to deny the Frenchman.

It was however all over for Newcastle in the 66th minute, when Giroud nodded home from an Ozil cross, prompting fans in the away end at the Emirates to unfurl a banner asking: "Next excuse Pardew?"

It remains to be seen if under-fire Pardew has an answer for his own club's supporters, while the result means Arsene Wenger and his boys can now breath easy as they now four points clear of 5th placed Everton who has manchester City to play next come Saturday.