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Arsenal Secure UEFA Champions League Position

Arsenal FC secured a place in the coming season`s UEFA Champions League at the end of a dramatic last day of fixtures. Arsenal beat their English Premiership`s north London rivals, Tottenahm Hotspur FC, and placed themselves at the forth and final qualifying position.

Arsenal went into their final match at Highbury a point adrift of Tottenham, and secured a 4-2 win against Wigan Athletic FC thanks in large part to a superb hat trick from Thierry Henry. Meanwhile, Martin Jol`s Tottenham were defeated 2-1 away to FA Cup finalists West Ham United FC. Robert Pir?s gave Arsenal the perfect start, turning in a rebound from close range on 7 minutes. However, Wigan had clearly failed to read the script as Paul Scharner equalized two minutes later and David Thompson gave them the lead with a long-range free-kick 32 minutes in. Ten minutes from half-time Henry began to stamp his authority on the game, sliding the ball under Mike Pollitt. He rounded the Wigan goalkeeper to give himself a simple finish on 56 minutes and completed his hat-trick with a 76th-minute penalty.

Tottenham had held a top-four position since 3 December, but had to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup after goals from Carl Fletcher and Yossi Benayoun sealed victory for West Ham. Spurs are joined in the competition by sixth-placed Blackburn Rovers FC, who rounded off their campaign with a 2-0 victory against Manchester City FC.