Arsene Wenger was happy with the spirit shown by his players after their 4-0 win over Aston Villa on the final day of the season lifted them into the second spot.
They have managed to leapfrog Tottenham in the most remarkable circumstances. After having been challenging for the title until a few weeks ago, Arsenal seemed to be heading for a very disappointing season. Spurs may have missed out on the league title in the last few games, but they were looking to finish above Arsenal for first-time in almost 2 decades. However, Spurs capitulated by losing 5-1 against relegated Newcastle United at St James’s Park.
This result coupled with Arsenal’s comfortable win over Villa helped them to seal the second spot. Apart from increased financial rewards, it also represents the club’s best finish in the league since 2005. Especially in the last decade, the club has become increasingly used to third and fourth place finishes. For this reason, Wenger is happy to see his team get the second spot and finish as the rumours are to Leicester City. Leicester City completed the campaign 10 points ahead of Arsenal. Wenger, who has faced increasing protests from supporters ahead of this game, praised the spirit shown by his players in the final game.
Olivier Giroud scored a hat-trick to return to form.”It was difficult to predict, especially a few weeks ago, but we kept our togetherness, our spirit.I think it’s now 10 games without defeat and that’s reward for our spirit, our mentality and also for our quality. We had a difficult second part to our season because we had many difficult away games.We needed an exceptional second part to the season and we didn’t deliver that, but overall we finished second in the league and you have to congratulate Leicester,” said Wenger.