Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle United: Rice and Raya ensure top-five finish
Declan Rice's outstanding goal proved the difference for Arsenal, who were also grateful to goalkeeper David Raya against Newcastle United.
Arsenal clinched their place in next season's Champions League and ended a five-match winless run in all competitions by edging past Newcastle United 1-0 on Sunday.
The Gunners' poor form had allowed third-placed Newcastle to reel them in ahead of this encounter at Emirates Stadium, but Declan Rice's sublime second-half goal moved Mikel Arteta's men five points clear of their opponents and six ahead of Manchester City in sixth.
That strike was only enough for Arsenal to claim victory after a sequence of superb early David Raya saves had kept the game goalless amid a bright Newcastle start.
However, the visitors, without Alexander Isak due to injury, could not respond to Rice's 55th-minute drive despite a period of late pressure.
Joe Willock passed up perhaps their best chance, while the final stages were played out inside the Arsenal box, where an ailing home side managed to hold firm.
Newcastle's strong goal difference should ensure victory at home to Everton on the final day will still secure a top-five finish, while the pressure is now off Arsenal ahead of a trip to already-relegated Southampton.
Data debrief: Raya heroics keep Newcastle at bay
Only against Manchester City in September has Raya made more saves in a Premier League game this season than his five in this match, and all of those came before the 20-minute mark with the game goalless.
Indeed, Newcastle had 10 shots before half-time – the most by a visiting team in the first half of a league game at the Emirates since April 2022 – as Raya was kept on his toes in front of a tense home crowd.
But where the Magpies were profligate without Isak, failing to net from chances worth 1.6 expected goals, Rice was ruthless, rattling in a brilliant effort that ensured he and Raya would be the matchwinners.