Spurs finish above Arsenal for sixth year running to seal Champions League spot

Tottenham have finished above Arsenal for the sixth season in a row after a 5-0 victory over Norwich City on the final day of the Premier League season, securing Champions League football in the process.

Spurs went into the final match of the campaign only needing a draw against the already-relegated Canaries due to their significantly superior goal difference compared to their north London rivals.

And it only took Antonio Conte’s side 16 minutes to take the lead in a dominant and drama-free afternoon, swatting Norwich aside with consummate ease to render Arsenal’s win over Everton irrelevant.

Spurs made a strong start against Norwich and ought to have gone ahead early on when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg blazed over from close range, but they did not have to wait long for a breakthrough.

The Danish midfielder played a pass in behind for Rodrigo Bentancur and the Uruguayan squared the ball for fellow January signing Dejan Kulusevski who did well to tuck it home for his fourth Premier League goal since moving to north London.

Shortly before the half-hour mark, Arsenal also took the lead in their own game from the penalty spot; a clear handball from Alex Iwobi saw Gabriel Martinelli step up to the spot and he sent Asmir Begovic the wrong way.

The Gunners doubled their lead minutes later, this time from a corner, with Martinelli flicking on Bukayo Saka’s delivery and Eddie Nketiah stooping to divert the ball into the back of the net.

Moments later, Spurs had a second goal of their own after some horrific play from Norwich; Tim Krul tried to play out from the back but passed straight to Bentancur and he played a first-time cross to Harry Kane who headed into a virtually unguarded net.

Back at the Emirates, some ponderous defending gifted Donny van de Beek a goal just before half-time but a fantastic strike from Cedric Soares not long after the restart re-established Arsenal’s two-goal lead.

Moments later, Mikel Arteta’s side went 4-1 up as a scuffed shot from Cedric found Gabriel Magalhaes and the centre-back finished like a centre-forward, rifling the ball into the bottom corner.

But any hopes of Norwich pulling off a comeback were put to shortly after the hour mark as Kulusevski picked up a pass down the channel from Kane, cut inside and curled a superb effort into the top corner.

Son Heung-min then got in on the act, finishing off a fine team move to draw level with Mohamed Salah in the golden boot race before a stunning curled effort from the edge of the box briefly took him past the Egyptian – until the Liverpool man netted late on against Wolves.

Odegaard, meanwhile, scored a lovely goal himself to make it 5-1 to Arsenal, rolling a lovely left-footed effort into the far corner.

Ultimately, though, Arsenal’s efforts were in vain with Tottenham doing their job at Carrow Road, sealing Champions League football for next season and meaning Arsenal have not finished against their rivals since 2016.

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