Arsenal closed the gap on Manchester City to one point after a thrilling game against Newcastle at St. James’ Park.
The home team got off to a fast start and tried to take the lead early on as Jacob Murphy hit the post inside two minutes before a penalty kick was overturned due to a VAR ruling. Arsenal appeared unstable and vulnerable, but Newcastle failed to build on their momentum.
After being set up by Jorginho, Martin Odegaard transformed the game by sending a 20-yard strike into the bottom right corner just before the quarter-hour mark. The Gunners fell into a wonderful rhythm after that, creating more opportunities of their own. Both teams hit the crossbar, but Arsenal lead at the break.
After the break, Alexander Isak headed a chance onto the post, but Aaron Ramsdale denied Fabian Schar from close range, and Newcastle were defeated. Gabriel Martinelli drove into the left side of the box on an Arsenal counter-attack and played over a square pass. Schar attempted to deflect the ball, but it went into his own net, doubling Arsenal’s lead.
With a two-goal lead, the Gunners saw out the game and kept their Premier League title aspirations alive.
Arteta felt that his team had what it takes to win and that the results reflected the efforts they put in:
“We will try to play the game that we want, and they will want to play a very different game, that’s for sure. That was the battle when we played them at Emirates Stadium, I think we deserved to win the game,” the Arsenal manager said in his post-match interview.
An opening against Newcastle followed a decisive double against Chelsea. Arsenal has two wins in six days after going winless in their previous four games. Their chase of Manchester City may be doomed, but instead of relinquishing it, they have increased it. This was perhaps Arsenal’s strongest performance of the season, both in isolation and in context. Newcastle’s superb form, outstanding home record, and fiery start made it a fantastic triumph; the repercussions of defeat, and the possibility of City clinching the title if they lost, made it an even better one.
Odegaard was the instigator, and Fabian Schar was his unsuspecting partner, as the Newcastle defender turned Gabriel Martinelli’s low cross past Nick Pope to give Arsenal insurance. After City went four points ahead a day earlier thanks to elegant, clinical finishing by the captain and technician in the No 8 shirt, the Gunners cut the lead to one point the next day thanks to Ilkay Gundogan’s counterpart in an Arsenal shirt.
Arsenal has 81 points from 35 Premier League games this season (W25 D6 L4); only in their unbeaten 2003-04 season have they ever reached 80+ points at such an early stage in a league campaign.
Arsenal joined Liverpool (twice) and Manchester City as the only teams to defeat Eddie Howe’s Newcastle in the Premier League at St. James’ Park in his 31 home league matches in charge (W18 D9 L4).
Newcastle have not preserved a clean sheet in any of their last seven Premier League games, conceding 10 goals in that span, the same number as they had in their previous 18 league outings.
