London: Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for the 16th straight season after edging Tottenham to fourth place in the Premier League, as Alex Ferguson bowed out as Manchester United manager with a 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion.
Laurent Koscielny's 52nd-minute volley sealed an unconvincing 1-0 for Arsenal at Newcastle, rendering Spurs' 1-0 victory over Sunderland - courtesy of a late screamer from Gareth Bale - meaningless. Chelsea finished third by beating Everton 2-1.
With the title fight decided and three relegation spots settled, the remaining business was bidding farewell to several icons of English football.
Ferguson's 1,500th and last result at United was a disappointment after his team surrendered a 5-2 lead to draw at The Hawthorns, while former England internationals Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen all played their final games before retiring.
Bale guaranteed an extremely tense final few minutes in the race for fourth between the fierce north London rivals by smashing a trademark long-range effort high into the net in the 88th minute at White Hart Lane, meaning Arsenal needed to hold onto its lead at St. James Park.
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott slid a shot against the post in injury time to keep Tottenham's hopes alive, but Newcastle couldn't find an equalizer.
"It was so tense," Walcott said. "We had to dig deep and our defense was so solid. We did our job and we are so happy."
Tottenham was third and seven points clear of Arsenal after winning the north London derby in March. But not even Bale's stream of match-winning goals in recent weeks could hold off Arsenal's end-of-season resurgence, just like last season.
"We have missed out and it is another hard day to take," Tottenham defender Michael Dawson said. "We can't just look at today - we put ourselves in this position. We hoped Arsenal would slip up but they didn't, unfortunately."
To make matters worse for Spurs, failing to reach the Champions League increases the speculation regarding the future of Bale, who has been linked with many of the world's top teams after a brilliant season in which he won English football's Player of the Year award.
After the last game of his trophy-filled reign of almost 27 years, Ferguson went over to bow to the United fans who had backed him as he waited until 1990 to win the first of 38 trophies for the club. The Scot brought Scholes on as a 69th-minute substitute for his 718th match, but a second-half hat trick from Romelu Lukaku denied a farewell victory for Ferguson.
Second-place Manchester City lost 3-2 at home to Norwich, and Carragher held his team keep a clean sheet in his 717th and final match for Liverpool, which beat last-place Queens Park Rangers 1-0.
Owen rounded off his illustrious career by playing the final 16 minutes for Stoke in a 1-1 draw at Southampton, and Kevin Nolan scored a hat trick in West Ham's 4-2 win over Reading.
Also, Fulham won 3-0 at Swansea and relegated Wigan drew 2-2 at home to Aston Villa.
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