Arsenal have gone four points clear in the race for fourth spot in the English Premier League and a place in next season’s Champions League with a 3-0 win at home to Newcastle.

First-half goals from Laurent Koscielny and Mesut Ozil left Arsenal in complete command at the Emirates Stadium on Monday before Olivier Giroud’s 66th-minute header put Arsene Wenger’s side 3-0 in front.

Victory left the Gunners on 73 points, four ahead of fifth-placed Everton, with both sides having two league games to play in the battle for the fourth and final Champions League spot on offer to English clubs.

But Newcastle’s sixth successive Premier League defeat – their worst run in the English top flight since January 1987 – piled the pressure on manager Alan Pardew.