After 20 consecutive seasons in the top four, Arsenal must make do with fifth. Not a bad finish for most teams in the Premier League but horribly disappointing by Arsene Wenger’s standards. We shall see what his future holds after the FA Cup final.
Meanwhile, in unwelcome Twitter news:
Welcome @Arsenal 🙌
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeaguue) May 21, 2017
See you next season! #UEL pic.twitter.com/xqMezEzJlO
90 min +4: Barkley zings a shot wide - will that be his final chance as an Everton player?
90 min +3: Arsenal will miss the Champions League but they’ve been pretty good today - beating a good team with only 10 men (although Everton have finished pretty poorly).
Well, Arsenal have missed out on the Champions League goal but they do have a brilliant goal to think about over the summer. Ramsey gets the ball on the edge of the area and curls the ball into the top corner. Beautiful.
89 min: Iwobi slaloms his way through the Everton defence but once again Robles is on to the chance quickly and snaffles the ball before Arsenal can do any damage.
87 min: Holgate does well to block Iwobi’s shot and the ball makes its way towards Welbeck, who can’t force it home. At the other end, we have a corner for Everton, which dribbles away to nothing.
84 min: The chances of a sudden collapse letting Arsenal into the Champions League is a little unlikely: Liverpool are 3-0 up and Man City are winning 5-0.
81 min: Lukaku has had plenty of chances today and is in space once again but he heads wide. Valencia is replaced by Kone.
78 min: Corner for Everton. Mirallas takes and Jagielka gets his head to the ball but it flies over the bar.
75 min: An exquisite ball from Ramsey, who finds Ozil with a through ball. But Robles is out quickly to block the German’s shot - the second good save in a one-on-one from the Everton keeper today.
71 min: Arsenal will finish with 75 points - four more than they managed last season - if they win, which is the most points a team has ever collected and missed out on the Champions League.
67 min: Arsenal fans are concentrating their anger at Michael Oliver, which is fair enough as a) their team are having their worst season in two decades and b) he’s losing control of the game. On the positive note, he did just disallow a goal for Everton after Valencia fouls Mertesacker. Sanchez trots off for Iwobi.
64 min: Lee Dixon says Arsenal need shaking up, whoever is in charge of Arsenal next season. Schneiderlin avoids a booking - and a red card - after he trips up Ozil.
61 min: Schneiderlin is booked. Will this be the final Premier League game for Wenger? If so, at least he looks like he will go out with a win. And as Arsenal and the Champions League prepare to bear farwell for now, we should remember what a big player they’ve been in Europe under Wenger:
Monreal gives away a stupid handball in the area and Lukaku rams the ball past Cech.
56 min: Well, this is the most animated the home crowd has been for a while. Ashley Williams, already on a yellow, trips his opponent and the Arsenal fans bay for a red. Williams looks like he’s ready to get sent off but Michael Oliver opts to do nothing. Liverpool are 3-0 up too. It gets worse for Arsenal though ...
52 min: Gabriel is replaced by Mertesacker, who makes his first appearance of the season after serious injury.
51 min: Gabriel appears to have sustained a serious injury. He slid in to challenge Valencia and his knee jarred horribly. He’s in tears and the stretcher is coming on - Michael Oliver wins friends by booking him for the challenge. Liverpool have scored and it’s 2-0 at Anfield.
49 min: Robles has been shaky this season but he saved well twice there, first from Welbeck in a one-on-one and then diving down to save the rebound.
48 min: Everton have a chance-that-isn’t-really-a-chance-because-Lukaku-was-offside when the Everton striker heads straight at Cech.
46 min: And we’re back. The crowd are pretty quiet at Emirates, understandably.
So, Arsenal have done their part so far as they chase the final Champions League place. The problem for them is that so have Liverpool, who are leading 1-0. So, at the moment, it’s Man City and Liverpool in the Champions League and Arsenal into the Europa.
45 min: I’m not sure how Everton haven’t scored yet. It’s Lukaku again: this time a cross-shot flies across goal. Arsenal have reverted to type and are refusing to defend despite being 2-0 up and needing to win to make the Champions League - and Liverpool have scored at Anfield.
44 min: A reminder of why Lukaku is the Premier League’s second top-scorer. The cross comes in and, despite being shoved by Bellerin, he manages to leap and send the ball arcing towards goal - it takes a good save from Cech to deny him.
41 min: A lovely cross from Barkley misses just about everyone until Arsenal prod it clear. Everton could easily be level in this game if their finishing at been a little sharper.
38 min: Corner for Arsenal after Holgate does well to intercept Bellerin’s cross. Ozil takes but Valencia heads clear and we then flash up to the Arsenal area where three miskicks from Everton ruin any chance of making the game 2-1. Jagielka is so disgusted he kicks poor Ozil and is booked. Both Everton centre-backs are now on yellow.
34 min: Holgate sends in a sweeping cross but Cech comes out to gather the ball smartly as Lukaku bears down.
31 min: A weird - and important - goal for Arsenal who looked very likely to concede after going down to 10 men. Quite a few Arsenal players had stopped when Everton appealed for offside too - they should be grateful for Welbeck and Sanchez playing to the whistle.
Ross Barkley, whose transfer status has officially been moved to WANTAWAY, has come on for Tom Davies. It doesn’t Everton do much good because they concede shortly afgterwards. It’s a strange goal: Sanchez’s shot deflects off Baines to Welbeck and Everton appeal - incorrectly - for offside. In the confusion, Welbeck clips the ball back to Sanchez who drives the ball home.
24 min: Gana is penalised for a challenge on Sanchez on the edge of the area. It looked like Gana got the ball - anyway, the free-kick comes to nothing. Man City are 2-0 up, they’re locks for the Champions League now. “That’s too much excitement already,” says a breathless Charles Antaki. “Can the game now be brought to a quiet and dignified end, perhaps some gentle passing back and forth for the next 70 minutes?”
21 min: Lukaku drifts past his marker and screws the ball across the six-yard area. Davies narrowly avoids poking the ball home - plenty of holes appearing in the Arsenal defence. It’s almost like they’re missing someone.
19 min: Ashley Williams fails to emulate Koscielny - he’s only booked for a violent challenge (a booking was fair though).
17 min: Koscielny’s challenge was horribly timed rather than an attempt to deprive Valencia of a future in football. It nearly gets worse for Arsenal too as Lukaku finds himself free in the area and fires over. He was offside anyway.
13 min: Everton have their first chance of the game - a shot from outside the area. Cech gathers it comfortably at his near post. Personally, I can’t wait to see Arsenal lose to Barcelona in the Champions League next season. Ooof. Koscielny launched himself at the ankles of Valencia, both feet up and studs sparkling in the sun. Michael Oliver immediately brandishes the red card and Arsenal don’t argue. Valencia looks like he’ll be OK but he could have been seriously injured.
10 min: That goal was thoroughly deserved, by the way. Everton have produced very little apart from two immaculate kick-offs. At the moment, Arsenal are in fourth with Liverpool fifth.
Told you Bellerin was the most influential player on the planet. The goal comes after a beautiful touch from Ozil leads to the ball being flashed across the six-yard area, where Welbeck manages to miss an open goal. Saving Welbeck from one of the great misses of all time is Bellerin who follows up and puts the ball into the empty net.
5 min: Another cross from Bellerin, but this one isn’t quite as impressive as his effort from a few minutes ago. This time it drifts over the bar with Ramsey and Sanchez both in space. Bellerin, who on this five minutes, is the most influential plauyer in history is then tackled by Baines shortly afterwards as he threatens to deliver another cross. Man City have just taken the lead in their game, although the race for fourth was always between Liverpool and Arsenal anyway.
3 min: Arsenal are positive - as you may have predicted. Bellerin and Sanchez combine well on the right of the area and the former’s cross is knocked just wide by Welbeck from around six yards out.
1 min: And we’re off. A sunny day in north London. Everton get us underway with a big hoik up the pitch that ends in the way most big hoiks do.
And the teams are out. To keep track of the day’s standings you can use our live league tables.
We’ve also asked you, the fan, what you think of Arsenal and Everton’s seasons (NB: “you” in this scenario may not actually be you). Here are the verdicts:
Arsenal - Bernard Azulay, goonersdiary.co.uk: That summer optimism was snuffed out after we dropped five points in our opening two games. An unbeaten run until mid-December restored hope, but ultimately we lacked the intensity of Spurs and Chelsea. Even if we go on to win the FA Cup it won’t be enough this time to silence the clamour for change (or stop that embarrassing sight of the argument being played out aerially in banner form.) Our debt to Arsène Wenger is far too great for him to deserve being hounded out like this, but if I’m bored of the sound of Wenger’s voice, heaven only knows how he’s supposed to light a fire under those who’ve spent far longer listening to him.
Everton: Steve Jones @bluekippercom - Ronald Koeman has definitely changed the attitude and mentality of our team. He quickly got rid of the deadwood and signed a couple of top players in Yannick Bolasie and Idrissa Gueye. We’ve been great at home and introduced a few youngsters, and Koeman has the players looking comfortable in various different formations. Roll on next season in Europe.
There is some prize money up for grabs today, and it dwarfs anything you’ll see at Wimbledon, the Masters or the Under 8s World Ping Pong Championship. In Arsenal’s little mini-league, third place will get £44m, fourth £42m and fifth £39m. And that doesn’t include the small matter of Champions League cash.
Whatever happens today, it’s unlikely Wenger’s future will be officially decided until the FA Cup final is decided. That said, a place in the Champions League will be far more likely to see him stay than a win in the FA Cup.
Wenger speaks before the game and is asked about his task today. As a reminder, to make the Champions League fifth-place Arsenal need to win and hope Liverpool or Man City slip up (badly, in City’s case). Anyway, here’s Arsene: “Let’s just do our job,” he says. “We have to be relentless from the first to last minute”.
All eyes are on Arsenal today but perhaps the most interesting nugget emerging from the team news is that Everton have dropped Ross Barkley from the first team after his recent contract stand off. Lukaku’s future is also cloudy but he’s given the start. For Arsenal, Koscielny and Ramsey’s inclusion were in doubt due to injury but they’re fit to start.
Arsenal v Everton
Arsenal: Cech, Holding, Koscielny, Gabriel, Bellerin, Ramsey, Xhaka, Monreal, Ozil, Sanchez, Welbeck. Subs: Mertesacker, Giroud, Ospina, Walcott, Iwobi, Coquelin, Elneny.
Everton: Robles, Holgate, Ashley Williams, Jagielka, Baines, Gana, Schneiderlin, Davies, Valencia, Lukaku, Mirallas. Subs: Barkley, Kone, Barry, Besic, Pennington, Hewelt, Joe Williams.
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Tom will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s David Hytner on a crucial Sunday for Arsenal:
Arsène Wenger is not a betting man. The Arsenal manager is happy to talk about the odds and, sometimes, to shout them but he would never wager any money on the outcome of a match. To him, it is a fool’s errand and it is so for good reason – the sport is gloriously and maddeningly unpredictable.
Wenger knows what everybody is thinking as he goes into the final day of the Premier League season, with his team sitting fifth, one point behind Liverpool and three behind Manchester City. There are plenty of permutations that would lead to Arsenal squeezing into a Champions League place, but the most basic way of putting it is they must beat Everton at the Emirates Stadium and either Liverpool slip up or City do so badly.
Liverpool face Middlesbrough at Anfield while City travel to Watford. Not for the first time, Wenger noted that Arsenal would return a tally of 75 points if they were to beat Everton – four more than they gained last season when finishing second. No Premier League team has finished outside the top four with 75 points.
“We can do 75 points, so let’s do it,” Wenger said. “Will it be enough or not? I don’t know. If you had to bet, you would say: ‘No, it will not be enough.’ But you never know.”
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