Arsenal celebrate another St Totteringham's Day at Hull

Hull 1 Arsenal 3. A superb first-half display from Arsenal crushed the life out of Hull as the Gunners celebrated yet another St Totteringham's Day - the date on which it becomes impossible for Spurs to finish above their London rivals.

Victory also confirmed Champions League football for the Gunners next season and leaves them level on points with Manchester City. The Sky Blues remain second on points difference but Arsene Wenger's side have a game in hand and on current form Arsenal should finish second behind Chelsea, which would be their highest league position since the 2004-05 season.

It's now three months since Arsenal last lost in the league and they never looked like slipping up againstHull at the KC Stadium on Monday, although the visitors had a slice of luck with their first two goals.

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Alexis Sanchez's free-kick on 28 minutes took a slight deflection off Michael Dawson's head to wrong-foot Steve Harper in the Hull goal, and five minutes later Aaron Ramsey – benefiting from a delicious assist from Santi Carzola – added a second as his shot deflected off Robbie Brady's boot.

Ramsey was the provider for Arsenal's third of the first-half, putting Sanchez into space on the stroke of half-time, and the Chilean did the rest as he rounded Harper and slid the ball into the empty net.

With the game all but over at the break, the Gunners eased off at the start of the second-half, allowing Hull to get a goal back when Stephen Quinn headed home Ahmed Elmohamady's inch-perfect cross on 55 minutes.

That brought the Gunners back to life and they controlled the last half-hour of the encounter although they couldn't convert their dominance into a fourth goal. Nonetheless it was a satisfying night for Arsenal, capped off by the second-half introduction of Jack Wilshere, making his first appearance since November. Praising the midfielder for his "energy", Wenger cautioned against expecting too much from Wilshere as he returns from his ankle injury: "We still have to be patient. He has been out for five-and-a-half months."

The Gunners faithful were also able to revel in the fact that victory means they will definitely finish above Spurs for the 20th season in a row. Celebrating St Totteringham's Day has become an important part of the season for Arsenal fans, who like nothing more than lording it over their local rivals.

But although the win also confirms Arsenal's position in the top four and leaves them well placed to finish second, but it must also leave Wenger wondering what might have been if his side had started the season as strongly as they are finishing it. "We gave absolutely everything to come back into it," he said, when asked if he felt frustrated they had been unable to haul in Chelsea. "What's important is that you go out of the season by thinking we have made progress, we have moved forward and that the confidence is high."

As for whether Arsenal can offer more of a challenge to Chelsea next season, Wenger neatly sidestepped the question, telling reporters: "Ask me that question in August. Give me a little breather until August. What is at stake now is to finish the season well. If we maintain our run then we will finish second and we still have the FA Cup final - we will see where we are after that."

The outlook is less rosy for Hull. The result leaves them one place above the relegation zone with Sunderland – in 18th position – having a game in hand. "When Arsenal play like that they're as good as anyone in Europe," said manager Steve Bruce. "It was one of those difficult evenings – and a truly awful 15 minutes before half-time – for us. We didn't match our standard of the last couple of games and we didn't have any luck. Two of the goals were cruel deflections and, if you chase the game, Arsenal can really open you up."