Mesut Ozil Says Arsenal Are Happy to Be Above Tottenham After Win vs. Newcastle

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil said the team are pleased to be above Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table after their 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday.

The Gunners enjoyed a routine home win courtesy of goals from Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette to go third in the table, moving Spurs down to fourth.

Per Arsenal's official website, Ozil said:

"Our aim is to get into the top four. Of course we're happy that we're in front of Tottenham. It's always a big competition with them. If we play like today, we have a few more games in front of us and we want to win them. We want to take all the points to get into the top four at the end of the season."

Arsenal were 10 points behind Tottenham in February, but Monday's win put them two points ahead on 63—the total they finished on last season—with seven matches remaining.

Football journalist Charles Watts and Gunnerblog's James McNicholas were impressed with the Gunners' showing against Newcastle:

On Arsenal's performance, Ozil added: "We are very happy. Our aim tonight was to take the three points and we played very well. Congratulations to the whole team. We are very happy."

The north London outfit have won five of their last six Premier League matches, putting them in the driving seat to secure one of the final two places in the top four behind title contenders Liverpool and Manchester City.

By contrast, Spurs are winless in their last five, with a draw against Arsenal providing the only point they've collected in that run.

Football.London's Alasdair Gold compared the run-ins of the sides battling for the top four:

How Tottenham will fare at their new stadium—where they'll play their first match against Crystal Palace on Wednesday—is something of an unknown quantity, but Arsenal's away form should be a concern for them.

The Gunners have won just five times away from home this season—each of their top-six rivals has at least nine wins on the road—and four of their five remaining away matches are against top-half teams.

Arsenal's fate is in their own hands, but if they don't improve their away record in the coming weeks, they could find themselves relying on winning the UEFA Europa League to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.