WHAT a way to sign off at St James’. A Newcastle United home campaign that contained plenty of fraught moments in the first half of the season in particular ended in celebratory fashion as the Magpies saw off Arsenal to make it seven wins from their last eight matches at Gallowgate. Having been unable to buy a win on home soil under Steve Bruce, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side have successfully turned St James’ Park back into a fortress.

Last night’s latest victory, which came courtesy of an own goal from Ben White at the start of the second half and a second goal from Bruno Guimaraes with five minutes remaining, dealt a potentially fatal blow to Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, with Mikel Arteta’s side trailing Tottenham by two points heading into the final weekend of the campaign. Given that Spurs face Norwich on Sunday, Arsenal appear destined for the Europa League next season.

Securing a return to Europe will be high on Newcastle’s agenda for next term, and having finished the current campaign so strongly, Howe’s side will head into next season with a great deal of momentum on their side. Last night’s win lifted them to 12th position, and they could finish in the top half of the table if they win at Turf Moor at the weekend. Having been dormant for far too long under Mike Ashley, it finally feels as though Newcastle is a club reborn.

It didn’t look that way when the current campaign started, indeed for the vast majority of the season, it had looked as though Newcastle would be heading into their final home game with their Premier League status on the line. As it was, survival was effectively secured weeks ago, and finally guaranteed last week when Leeds United lost to Chelsea.

Howe has overseen a remarkable transformation, and while January’s £100m spending spree undoubtedly helped, the Newcastle boss was right to point out that his side’s upturn was not solely down to money when he spoke to the press last week.

The change of atmosphere off the pitch has arguably been even more important, with the arrival of new owners in the autumn having transformed St James’ Park from a festering base of anti-Ashley discontent into a vibrant cauldron of passion and regional pride.

For all that there is understandable and ongoing discomfort over the club’s Saudi Arabian ownership, the pre-match scenes last night were spine-tingling, with flags and banners fluttering in all four stands. They were repeated after the final whistle, with directors Amanda Staveley, Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben joining in the post-match celebrations on the touchline that preceded a lap of honour that was rapturously received. In the space of a few months, Newcastle has become united once more.

On the pitch, the hope, moving forward, is that it will not be too long before the Magpies are back where Arsenal are now, challenging in the upper echelons of the table. Whereas Newcastle went into last night’s game in a position of relative comfort, the stakes could hardly have been higher for the Gunners, who had fallen two points behind their North London rivals, Tottenham, in the battle for fourth position at the weekend. In truth, they never really looked like clawing back the deficit.

The intensity of Newcastle’s play from the off was remarkable, with the home side swarming all over Arsenal as they broke forward with pace and purpose.

The return of Callum Wilson to lead the line helped, with the striker offering a burst of speed and range of movement that had been lacking in his absence. Chris Wood’s physicality brings its own strengths, but the New Zealander is no match for Wilson when it comes to breaking beyond an opposition defence and Newcastle immediately looked a more threatening proposition with their number nine back in the team.

Arsenal’s defence creaked repeatedly in the opening stages, but it just about remained intact, largely thanks to the commanding presence of White, who improved the Gunners’ resolve as he replaced the suspended Rob Holding. Given the way in which he held his side together, it felt particularly unfortunate that White was the scorer of Newcastle’s decisive first goal at the start of the second half.

The Arsenal centre-half had hacked clear from just in front of his own goalline after Aaron Ramsdale had parried Wilson’s shot in the 18th minute, with the Magpies striker having been played into the box by a delightful ball from Guimaraes, who was United’s orchestrator-in-chief throughout the first half.

Guimaraes has been a wonderful addition to Newcastle’s starting side, with his creative eye and ease in possession making him stand out a mile. If the Brazilian is to be the template for the Magpies’ business in future transfer windows, there really could be some exciting times ahead.

Arsenal never really got to grips with Guimaraes all night, but having weathered Newcastle’s early storm, it was to the visitors’ credit that they managed to fashion a couple of decent opportunities of their own before the interval.

Bukayo Saka was involved in both of them, driving in a shot that was blocked by Dan Burn after a slick one-two with Martin Odegaard before cutting in from the right-hand side to fire in a low effort that was saved by Martin Dubravka.

Newcastle remained the more threatening side, and Ramsdale was forced to produce another excellent save to keep the scoresheet blank nine minutes before the break. Allan Saint-Maximin received the ball from Joelinton, and after cutting in from the left flank, the Frenchman flashed in a low drive that Ramsdale turned around the post.

That was a smart reflex stop, but Ramsdale was powerless to prevent the deadlock being broken when Newcastle attacked again ten minutes after the break.

Saint-Maximin’s slide-rule ball down the flank sent Joelinton scampering away, and having been named Newcastle’s Player of the Year earlier in the afternoon, the Brazilian delivered a low cross into the area.

Wilson tussled for the ball with White, and while Newcastle’s returning striker wheeled away in celebration, the final touch came off the foot of the Arsenal defender, with his deflection giving a helpless Ramsdale no chance.

St James’ Park exploded in celebration, and the home fans were on their feet again eight minutes later as Wilson came close to claiming the goal he felt he had been deprived of a few minutes earlier.

Guimaraes swung the ball over from a tight position close to the goalline, but while Wilson caught his first-time volley perfectly, the ball whistled over the crossbar before thudding into the Gallowgate End.

The striker was denied again shortly after, with White sliding in to cut out a dangerous low cross from Emil Krafth, and while Mohamed Elneny forced Martin Dubravka into a routine save at the other end with a low, long-range effort, Newcastle went into the closing stages continuing to look like the more polished and threatening team.

Substitute Jacob Murphy should have settled things with ten minutes left, but after playing a slick one-two with fellow replacement Ryan Fraser after breaking clear of the Arsenal defence, he fired in a shot that was parried by Ramsdale.

No matter. Newcastle’s second goal arrived in the 85th minute, killing off any hope of a dramatic late Arsenal recovery.

Sean Longstaff released Wilson into the area, and while Ramsdale came out to smother at the striker’s feet, the ball broke kindly for Guimaraes, who was able to slot home his fifth goal in a Magpies shirt.