Arsenal were 10 points behind Tottenham at the start of February but victory over Newcastle took the Gunners two points clear of fourth-placed Spurs and United in fifth with seven league games remaining.
This was a 10th home league victory in a row for Arsenal, their best run since a similar sequence from December 1997 to May 1998, as Unai Emery’s team continued a strong second half of the season that could see them secure a return to Champions League action after a two-year absence.
WWWWWWWWWW@Arsenal have won 10 consecutive #PL home games within the same season for the first time in over 20 years#ARSNEW pic.twitter.com/L1kxfvGCFs— Premier League (@premierleague) April 1, 2019
Arsene Wenger’s 22-year spell in charge of the Gunners ended with regular protests among the fans as they watched their team drift away from Europe’s elite.
But Emery, in his first year in the English game, has galvanised the side with his brand of free-flowing attacking football and this result took them to 63 points – the same that the Gunners managed under Wenger in all of 2017-18.
🙅♀️ WAKANDA FOREVER 🙅♂️
Well, eventually… 🤣
Thanks for dropping by, @LetitiaWright 🤝#ARSNEW pic.twitter.com/iyODtTAjaj— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) April 1, 2019
Arsenal started with top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench, but they still had 71% possession and were simply too strong for their opponents.
The hosts thought they had taken a 12th-minute lead, but Ramsey’s volley was ruled out as Sokratis was adjudged to have fouled Florian Lejeune.
But the Welshman, who missed his country’s two matches during the international break, scored 17 minutes later with a low strike after DeAndre Yedlin’s clearance inadvertently fell into Ramsey’s path.
Alexandre Lacazette speaks! “It was a big game. We knew it was going to be tough. The coach said we had to be patient and we did it today. We saw many videos. It’s always like this against Newcastle. I can feel the difference from last season. Now we may go to the Champions League. Me and Pierre are important for the team, like other players. Auba has helped me score many goals and I try to do the same. Why not go to the Champions League? I would like to score a lot of goals away. But if at the end we win it is the most important thing. We are more confident this season and everybody knows what we have to do.”