Arsenal on brink of Champions League berth
Monday, April 28, 2014
Article summary
Laurent Koscielny, Mesut Özil and Olivier Giroud scored the goals as Arsenal FC swept aside Newcastle United FC 3-0 and opened up a four-point cushion in fourth spot.
Article top media content
Article body
Arsenal FC tightened their grip on England's final UEFA Champions League spot by dispatching Newcastle United FC 3-0.
The visitors had looked in little danger of conceding until a Santi Cazorla free-kick punctured their back-line and Laurent Koscielny stabbed in from close range. Another Cazorla set-piece had Newcastle scrambling again moments later but Tim Krul was equal to Lukas Podolski's powerful header. A second goal not was not long coming, though, Mesut Özil firing in after Olivier Giroud had twice been denied by Krul.
Alan Pardew's side, who arrived in north London on the back of five straight Premier League defeats, suffered further torment after the interval, as Özil swept across goal after combining with Aaron Ramsey and Giroud headed in. Podolski and substitute Tomáš Rosický squandered opportunities to extend the Gunners' lead but they had already done enough to move four points clear of Everton FC in fourth place.
