Arsene Wenger could scarcely suppress his smile as he celebrated another season where Arsenal finished above Tottenham.
However the Arsenal manager admitted Mauricio Pochettino’s youthful Spurs side had pushed the Gunners “harder than ever” in the battle to secure top status in north London.
Arsenal entered the final day of the season knowing that, short of a 13-goal margin of victory over bottom side Aston Villa, their only hope of finishing second and leapfrogging Spurs. Though they struggled at times it never seemed in doubt that the Gunners would do what was required in them, with a salvo of three goals in the final 12 minutes securing a 4-0 win in which Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick.
More remarkable was the outcome at St James’ Park, where already relegated Newcastle stunned Spurs in a 5-1 victory. After slipping to a 2-0 deficit in the first half Erik Lamela’s goal and a red card for Aleksandar Mitrovic offered hope for Tottenham but it was the Magpies who seized the initiative, adding three more in a rout.
That defeat continued Wenger’s record of never having finished below Tottenham, who could last claim north London bragging rights in 1995.
A grinning Wenger told BBC Sport: “It was harder than ever this season but in the end we kept our togetherness under huge pressure. That’s part of the DNA of this club.
“We have stayed together until the last day of the season and that’s why we are in front of them.”
Second place is Arsenal’s best finish since their penultimate season at Highbury in 2005, though their tally of 71 points is fewer than they have achieved in any of the last three seasons.
Though Wenger has faced some of the sustained criticism of his tenure at the club he will remain in place next season, when he heads into the final year of his contract, and he has his eyes set on going one better in 2017.
“People forget that for a long time we fought against teams that had much greater resources than us and we remained in the top four,” he added. “Now we are financially strong again, last year we finished third, this year second.
“We know what we want to do next season. But let’s not forget that there are many big teams who are out of the top four and the fight may be even harder this year.”
