Arsenal have moved four points clear of Everton in the race for the final Champions League place courtesy of a comfortable 3-0 win over out-of-form Newcastle United at the Emirates.
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The hosts were the first to come close when Nacho Monreal sent a volley from the edge of the box just wide after a poor punch from Tim Krul.
Moussa Sissoko threatened for the visitors at the other end before Arsenal broke the deadlock in the 26th minute through Laurent Koscielny, who poked the ball home from close range having latched on to Santi Cazorla's free kick.
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The Gunners almost doubled their advantage moments later when Lukas Podolski was sent through on goal, only to fire his effort narrowly wide, while Per Mertesacker tested Krul with a header from the resulting corner.
Arsenal did get their second before the break as Mesut Ozil swept home a rebound after Olivier Giroud had been thwarted by Krul twice in quick succession.
It was almost 3-0 seven minutes after the restart when a corner was only cleared as far as Cazorla, but the Spaniard could not keep his volley down.
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Newcastle had a good chance to pull a goal back shortly before the hour mark when Loic Remy slid the ball through to Yoann Gouffran, but the winger couldn't beat Wojciech Szczesny having got in front of Koscielny.
The hosts wrapped up the points in the 66th minute as Aaron Ramsey slid a reverse pass to Monreal, whose cross was met by a thumping Giroud header from close range.
Arsenal continued to look for a fourth goal and almost got it when Ozil linked up with compatriot Podolski, but the latter could only find the side-netting with his effort.
They were forced to settle for just the three goals, however, consigning Newcastle to a sixth straight defeat and moving one step closer to securing fourth spot.
Barney Corkhill
