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Gunners bow out with Henry treble
LONDON, England -- Thierry Henry gave Arsenal a perfect send-off from their Highbury Stadium with a hat-trick in a 4-2 Premiership win over Wigan Athletic which ended the Gunners' 93-year stay at the ground. The victory also guaranteed a place in next season's Champions League for Arsenal, who finished the season in fourth place. Their north London rivals Tottenham, rocked by a pre-match bout of food poisoning, went down 2-1 to FA Cup finalists West Ham. They had to settle for fifth position. Henry, who finished the season as the Premiership's top scorer with 26 goals, added: "No-one now can say we didn't deserve it. We are fourth and we are going to play the final of the Champions League. "At the end of 38 games the table does not lie." When Henry completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot he fell to the floor and kissed the turf. "It was a kiss goodbye to the stadium," he said, refusing to comment on speculation that he would be moving to Barcelona. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that his team's success in securing a place in next season's Champions League qualifiers could persuade captain Henry to stay with the club. "Being in the Champions League gives him an incentive," Wenger told journalists. "When you are the best player in the world you want to play in the best tournament in the world." After Henry had a shot blocked, Arsenal opened the scoring in the eighth minute. Fellow France international Robert Pires, finding himself free in the box, fired home a close-range shot after his first effort was saved by Wigan goalkeeper Mike Pollitt. Wigan interrupted the party atmosphere at Highbury with a tenth-minute equalizer. The Lancashire side, looking to end on a high during their first season in the top flight, had defender Paul Scharner to thank for latching on to a free-kick whipped into the penalty area by Thompson. Looking to regain the ascendancy, Arsenal drove forward, but Pires failed to score his and Arsenal's second after being set free by Ashley Cole mid-way through the first half. Wigan then took a shock lead in the 33rd minute, Thompson driving home a direct free-kick from about 30 yards. The ball deceived Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, bouncing over the German international. But the crowd only had to wait two minutes again for the equalizer, Henry slotting the ball past Pollitt after running on to a through ball as Wigan's defenders looked to play him offside. Wigan began the second half in similar bright fashion, with Lee McCulloch and Henri Camara going close. But Arsenal fought back and with an hour almost played, Henry intercepted a misplaced back pass by Thompson, rounded Pollitt and nudged the ball into the empty net. With a little over 15 minutes remaining, Wigan sent on Andreas Johansson and Arsenal gave a run-out to Freddie Ljungberg. What followed was extraordinary, as Johansson immediately brought down the Swede in the box. Johansson was red-carded and Henry completed his hat-trick from the resulting penalty. The biggest cheer was saved until last, however, as Dennis Bergkamp came on for his last ever Arsenal league match before retirement -- a substitution that coincided with news that West Ham had taken the lead against Spurs. Tottenham were reeling before the start of their game at Upton Park. Manager Martin Jol said 10 players, including first-teamers Michael Dawson, Edgar Davids, Michael Carrick, Robbie Keane and Teemu Tainio, were struck down by food poisoning after a buffet meal at the team hotel in east London on Saturday night. All five played but Spurs had to settle for a place in the UEFA Cup after slipping to defeat.. "I have never experienced anything like this in football before," Jol, who together with his assistant Chris Hughton was also affected by the food poisoning, told reporters. "I don't want to blame our defeat on the circumstances and I do not think personally that there was any foul play involved. "We would like to have postponed the match for one day but that was not really possible. West Ham are playing in the cup final next week, they didn't want to postpone the match and I completely understand that." Premier League officials did offer Spurs a two-hour delay to the kickoff which they declined as it would have made little difference, Jol said. Police were not prepared to consider a delay of more than an hour, he added. Clubs are obliged to fulfil their fixtures unless there are exceptional circumstances and can be docked points if they fail to do so. Police investigatingJol added that environmental health officers had been called to the team's hotel as a precaution and that police were investigating the incident. "Dawson was very sick but played 90 minutes but Carrick couldn't go on," Jol said. Carrick was substituted after 64 minutes. "One of the problems was they couldn't take food or any fluids. "On the whole of course I am disappointed but we are fifth and in Europe with 65 points, which is an unbelievable amount for our team." West Ham manager Alan Pardew said: "I sympathize with Tottenham who found themselves in a very difficult situation today but I think they would have found it very tough here today even if they had all been at their best. "I did not want to play the match in midweek or at any other time because that would have severely damaged our preparation for the cup final (against Liverpool on Saturday)." Carl Fletcher gave West Ham a 10th minute lead but a moment of brilliance from Jermain Defoe kept Spurs in the game. Defoe, who hopes to win a place in England's attack at the World Cup, shrugged off Danny Gabbidon's attention before squeezing a low shot in from a tight angle. In the 52nd minute England goalkeeper Paul Robinson kept out a penalty from former Tottenham striker Teddy Sheringham but with 10 minutes left Israel international Benayoun hit West Ham's winner from a back-heeled pass from Nigel Reo-Coker. 
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