00:00Newcastle United beating 1-0 here at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal this afternoon.
00:06Declan Weiss' strike, stunning strike to be fair, the only goal of the game.
00:11So Arsenal get the three points with a confirmed second place in Champions League qualification for them.
00:17As for Newcastle, it's going to go down to the last day against Everton at St James' Park.
00:23They still sit third in the table, it is still in their hands,
00:26but they'll still feel they need those three points at St James' Park against Everton to just take any pressure off.
00:34So they're not looking elsewhere, relying on other results.
00:36Get a win, you've got the Champions League.
00:38Anything less, you're looking over your shoulder, you're looking at other results.
00:42Nottingham Forest play Chelsea, Aston Villa against Manchester United and obviously Manchester City playing Fulham as well,
00:50but they play Bournemouth in midweek as well and could potentially overtake Newcastle.
00:54As for the game today, Newcastle, I thought, did as much as they could have done without actually getting something from the game.
01:03I guess the finishing wasn't quite at its best.
01:08They missed Alexander Isak today with a groin issue, massive blow ahead of kick-off.
01:12Callum Wilson starting again, didn't really get a sniff.
01:14But the likes of Tino Livramento, Bruno Gimeraich, Harvey Barnes all had chances to give Newcastle the damn burn as well.
01:22David Rea denied them every time and Newcastle actually had five shots on target in the first 20 minutes.
01:28David Rea saved them all and they didn't have another shot on target after that,
01:32which probably tells the story of the game a little bit.
01:34Really good start from Newcastle.
01:36Just ran out of steam a bit in the second half.
01:38Arsenal came out strong, one mistake, punished by one moment of quality from Declan Rice.
01:45Great finish from the edge of the box, first time across the goal and into the bottom left-hand corner.
01:50Anthony Gordon, who had another frustrating game, gave possession away, probably wouldn't want to see that goal again.
01:57But on the whole, I thought Newcastle played as well as can be expected,
02:02considering they didn't get anything from the game.
02:04They really pushed this goal behind me there, the Arsenal Academy kids playing at the moment.
02:09Obviously, their season's over at home at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal.
02:13So, yeah, a bit of a celebration as such for finishing second and not winning any trophies.
02:18But, yeah, Newcastle huffed and puffed.
02:21They really gave it a go and pushed for an equaliser late on, but ultimately never came.
02:26A couple of scrambles inside the box that didn't come to fruition.
02:32And, yeah, it was unfortunate in the end.
02:36I think, did Newcastle have the quality in front of goal to deserve to get something from the game?
02:42Possibly not.
02:43Arsenal didn't really have much either, though.
02:46There was nothing really to separate the teams except that one moment of quality from Declan Rice in the second half.
02:52So, all in all, look, it's a defeat, but it's not that demoralising, destabilising defeat that it potentially could have been heading into the final day.
03:00Newcastle can take a lot of positives from the game.
03:03And speaking to Eddie Howe, I certainly feel that way.
03:05Eddie Howe said, look, I'm never happy to lose a game, but looking back on this one, I think there's a lot of positives we can take.
03:13And we still know, we've always thought it would probably go down to the final game.
03:17Anything other than that would have been a bonus.
03:19And I think if you're off at it six weeks ago, you'd be going into the final game, potentially third, fourth in the Premier League.
03:26With it completely in your own hands, you absolutely would have taken it.
03:30I think results this weekend have gone probably exactly the way most people would have thought.
03:36Obviously, Aston Villa winning, Chelsea winning, and Newcastle, in the Premier League at least, usually get beat here at Emirates Stadium.
03:43Missed opportunity in some ways, but ultimately it's just par for the course.
03:47And Newcastle have probably not done themselves any favours, but certainly not embarrass themselves or destabilise things heading into the final day.
03:57It's just, apart from the course result, they're heading into that Everton game.
04:02Again, potentially without Alexander Isak, which is another issue.
04:06They haven't scored from open play without Alexander Isak in the side this season in the Premier League.
04:11So that's something they'll potentially have to address.
04:13Hopefully, Isak will be fit for that final game.
04:16And Newcastle can get the job done, get it over the line, because it's been some season for Newcastle United and Champions League qualification is just that.
04:25Cherry on the top of the cake, but a very necessary cherry when you consider six Premier League teams are going to be playing in the Champions League next season.
04:31And Newcastle will want to make sure they are one of them.
04:34And you can catch all the build-up to the Everton game, as well as all the fallout from the game here at the Emirates Stadium.
04:40My player ratings, Eddie Howe reaction, Alexander Isak injury update over on ShieldsGazette.com.
