In what most supporters wouldn’t have expected in preseason, Newcastle and Arsenal played out a heavyweight clash that had implications for both the title and top 4 races. Arsenal came into the game emerging from a poor run of form that saw them sacrifice their lead at the top of the table to Man City and Newcastle saw this as a must-win in the hunt for Champions League football. Mikel Arteta’s side had struggled defensively in the weeks before the game after losing William Saliba through injury, experimenting with Rob Holding at centre-back before opting for January acquisition Jakub Kiwior after an impressive midweek display against Chelsea. Eddie Howe had a selection headache of his own in the forward line, with Allan Saint-Maximin continuing to be plagued by injuries, and new signing Anthony Gordon being poor against Southampton. Howe chose to play both Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak, with the latter occupying the vacant left flank.
The game started at blistering pace, with Jacob Murphy hitting the post inside 3 minutes after finding himself with space in the Arsenal penalty area. Newcastle then had a penalty appeal overturned by VAR after what was thought to be a handball off Kiwior was found to have taken a thigh deflection. Bruno Guimarães then found himself being too casual in possession after an Arsenal counter attack, losing the ball and then conceding a free kick trying to correct his error. The Gunners worked the ball well around Newcastle’s penalty area before finding Martin Ødegaard, who guided a shot beyond Nick Pope from 30 yards. Surprisingly, Arsenal found themselves 1-0 up against the run of play. The rest of the first half found Newcastle continuing to apply pressure but to no avail, Aaron Ramsdale made some excellent saves to preserve Arsenal’s lead. Pope also made some terrific stops as Arsenal found moments to counter amongst Newcastle’s high tempo, something clearly identified as a weakness by Arteta.
The second half came and Newcastle hit the post inside a minute from an Isak diving header. Kieran Trippier then crossed the ball in from a free kick for Fabian Schär who once again forced an excellent save from Ramsdale. From one end to the other, Schär then put the ball in his own net from a Gabriel Martinelli cross. Arsenal then knew that if they could manage the game for the remaining 20 minutes they would get the 3 points. What followed was a dose of Newcastle’s own medicine, with “time wasting” tactics being employed masterfully by the Arsenal players to see out the game.
Full time came and Mikel Arteta was straight over to shake the hand of Newcastle assistant manager Jason Tindall, spelling an end to a thrilling game that gave Arsenal life in the title race and hindered Newcastle’s top 4 dreams.
