EPL Finale: Man City Grab Fourth Spot As Arsenal Pip Spurs Into Second

The race for the last Champions League spot between Manchester City and Manchester United was concluded with the former securing fourth spot with a draw at Swansea to qualify for the prestigious European competition.

Kelechi Iheanacho put the visitors ahead in the 5th minute before Andre Ayew’s deflected free-kick cancelled out the Nigerian’s opener.

Arsenal thumped Aston Villa 4-0 to finish second in the Premier League for the first time since 2005.

Olivier Giroud netted a hat-trick and a Mark Bunn’s own-goal from a Mikel Arteta shot rounded off the scoring for the host.

Arsene Wenger’s men also took advantage of Spurs’ slip-up at Newcastle to finish above their neighbours for the 21st consecutive season.

“It’s happened again,” sang Gunners fans at the end as they celebrated finishing above Spurs yet again, and qualified for the Champions League for a 19th consecutive season.

“We kept our togetherness and that is part of the DNA of this club,” said Wenger.

“We kept fighting until the end. Many big teams finished outside the top four this year.”

The game was filled with emotions as Mikel Arteta, who has made 150 appearances since joining from Everton in 2011, and Tomas Rosicky, who has spent the last 10-years with the Gunners played their last games for the North London club.

Elsewhere, Newcastle, who were relegated earlier this week ended their Premier League campaign in style with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Tottenham, who finished third.

Spurs blew the chance of finishing above Arsenal for the first time since 1995, after being at the back-foot for majority of the game.

Goals by Georginio Wijnaldum (2), Aleksandar Mitrovic, Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat capped a perfect afternoon for the host.

“First of all I would like to apologise to our fans,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

“I think they don’t deserve all that happened today on the pitch and I apologise.”

Meanwhile, Danny Drinkwater rescued a point for the champions Leicester with a stunning long-distance strike to cancel out Cesc Fabregas’ second-half penalty for Chelsea.

Southampton climbed to fifth with a 4-1 victory over FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace and West Ham United’s hopes of a top-six finish ended following a 2-1 loss at Stoke City.