Arsenal cruised to victory over Everton on the final day of the 2021/22 Premier League campaign, but victory for Tottenham over Norwich ensured it was only good enough for fifth place and Europa League qualification – but still an improvement on last season.
The Gunners were dominant throughout at the Emirates Stadium and a Gabriel Martinelli penalty got the ball rolling, before Eddie Nketiah made it 2-0 after half an hour.
First half substitute Donny van de Beek did pull one back for Everton, but Cedric Soares and Gabriel netted in quick succession in the second half to avoid any sort of comeback. Martin Odegaard then capped it off for the hosts with a fifth in the closing stages.
Well aware of the job they needed to do, Arsenal started like a team desperate for a win and were playing with intensity and high tempo looking for a quick way through. Odegaard had the best of the earliest chances when Michael Keane blocked in the six-yard box.
Martinelli should have put Arsenal ahead just over 10 minutes in when the ball broke to him. But his shot was almost too well hit and struck the body of stand-in goalkeeper Asmir Begovic rather than attempting to find one of the corners.
Everton were completely pinned in for much of the first 20 minutes, although Demarai Gray had a chance to put his team ahead against the run of play. In the end, he lacked composure to lift the ball over Aaron Ramsdale off his line.
The Gunners were well worthy of the breakthrough goal, coming from Martinelli’s composed penalty. Former Arsenal man Alex Iwobi thought he had got away with blocking the Brazilian’s fierce shot, leaning into it with his arm slightly away from his body. But VAR caught him out.
The second Arsenal goal only four minutes later won’t have pleased Frank Lampard. It was too easy for Martinelli to flick on a near-post corner and even easier for Nketiah to nod in a few yards out.
Everton halved the deficit in first-half stoppage time out of nowhere. Arsenal had seen a couple of chances to make it 3-0 go begging, with the Toffees then rewarded for Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s persistence – his low cross amid minimal Arsenal pressure was turned in by Van de Beek.
Lampard’s side took confidence from that goal and competed a little better after the restart. But it didn’t last and two more poorly defended set pieces in quick succession took the game away from them around the hour mark.
First it was Cedric with an emphatic first-time finish from the edge of the box after Saka had the intelligence to pull his low corner back away from the crowd. Almost immediately it was Gabriel, whose powerful shot was too much for Begovic despite getting hands to it – Everton had cleared the initial danger only as far as Cedric, who put his teammate in on goal.
Arsenal were in cruise control after that points as both sides accepted their lot.
There was a nice moment for Alexandre Lacazette, given the final 23 minutes plus stoppage time for what is likely to have been his last game for the club, handed the captain’s armband to boot.
Odegaard’s late fifth was the pick of the bunch – and actually the only Arsenal goal from open play. The Norwegian received the ball from substitute Nicolas Pepe on the edge of the box, jinked inside and then ever so delicately stroked it into the far bottom corner.