Arsenal (2) 4 Newcastle United (0) 1

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Saturday, 24th January 2024. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-3-3) David Raya; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli.

Substitutes: Aaron Ramsdale, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Cédric Soares, Leandro Trossard, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny.

Scorers: Sven Botman (o.g.) (17 mins), Kai Havertz (24 mins), Bukayo Saka (65 mins), Jakob Kiwior (69 mins)

Yellow Cards: Martin Ødegaard

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 56%

Referee: Paul Tierney

Assistant Referees: Neil Davies, Nick Hopton

Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Peter Bankes; AVAR Lee Betts

Attendance: 60,298

Going into this evening’s important match against the Magpies, we have started a calendar year with five straight Premiership wins for the first time in our glorious history, and it is entirely possible that Thomas Partey, who has been missing since October with a thigh injury, could return to the side tonight. Additionally, centre-forward Gabriel Jesus and full-back Oleksandr Zinchenko are nearing a return to the team, but our other full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu, remains out with a calf issue, sadly. 

In a cracking Saturday nightatmosphere in North London, we kicked off proceedings quickly and decisively, earning ourselves a corner within a minute of the start. We were keeping the visitors well pinned in back into their half, and we were not giving them any room to break out and cause us any trouble. Our captain received a yellow card for a mistimed tackle, which was unfortunate, and a minute or so later, Bukayo Saka was unlucky not to score when he sprang the offside trap, but his shot was easily gathered up by the Newcastle ’keeper. Declan Rice unleashed a shot which was well saved by Loris Karius, and with the amount of pressure and possession we have had in this game, it is amazing that we are not a couple of goals to the good by now. After just seventeen minutes, we opened the scoring from a corner, which although it looked as if Gabriel scored with a header, the subsequent mess that the Magpies’ defenders found themselves in, the goal was accredited as an own goal by Botman, which is okay, as they all count! It has certainly been coming, as we have pressurised and pushed Newcastle back into their own half constantly. Seven minutes after the first goal, we grabbed a second when Gabriel Martinelli received the ball from a long pass via the feet of Jorginho, took it to the byeline, crossed it and Kai Havertz tapped the ball into the net from close range. Superb play. Bruno Guimarães received a deserved yellow card for hacking down Jorginho, and then Martin Ødegaard neatly slipped the ball to Bukayo Saka, who fired over a cross for Gabriel Martinelli, whose header went over the bar, which was unlucky. We did not give the visitors any time at all to think, let alone regroup, as we pressed them constantly in our desire for goals. Bukayo Saka won the ball and jinked his way through three Magpies’ defenders before firing a terrific shot at the goal, which Loris Karius in the Newcastle goal, somehow managed to push away. Our overall play was tremendous; we press, pass and push the visitors back, and when we lose the ball, we win it back and keep looking for another goal. Somehow, the visitors managed to get a chance to score through Miguel Almirón, but David Raya easily blocked his half-hearted shot. During the three minutes injury time, the Magpies looked like they could not wait for the half to finish, as they looked completely shell-shocked from the events of the first forty-five minutes.

The visitors kicked off the second half here at the Emirates, and immediately we carried on where we left off from the first half, with pressure on the Newcastle goal with Kai Havertz picking up on a through ball, and his first touch went just wide of the visitors’ goal. So close. Anyway, at the other end, Alexander Isak had a sniff of scoring a goal as he tried to go around David Raya, but was unable to take a clear shot, and the rebound fell for Anthony Gordon, whose shot was blocked by our ’keeper. The visitors were starting to wake up a bit, and we were not quite as fluent as we were in the first half, but we were the better side by a country mile, despite the Magpies’ mini-resurgence. Gabriel Martinelli was replaced by Leandro Trossard just after the hour, and a couple of minutes later, Bukayo Saka grabbed our third goal when he cut in from the right-hand side of the penalty area, and unleashed a left-footed shot which went through a crowd of defenders and ended up in the corner of the net. Superb goal from our Top Gun! Four minutes later, an excellent Declan Rice corner found the head of Jakob Kiwior, who headed it into the net, via a slight deflection from Jamie Miley; but it was our man’s goal at the end of the day. Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson replaced Kai Havertz, Martin Ødegaard (who handed the captain’s armband to Jorginho) and Bukayo Saka with fifteen minutes of the game remaining to get fresh legs out there to consolidate our domination of Newcastle United tonight. However, with six minutes of the game remaining, the Magpies managed to grab a goal back via former Gunner Joe Willock, and a little while later, Mohamed Elneny replaced Jorginho, as the match started to wind down. The five minutes of injury time saw Dan Burn kick the ball off the line following a clever shot from Emile Smith-Rowe, and following that, the rest of the match was merely an exercise in game management by Arsenal. 

Top, top performance by the boys tonight, worthy winners from the start to the finish, no question. They are looking good with a great team spirit within the unit which shows in every match they play, home or away. They are disciplined, focussed, entertaining and ruthless at the same time, which is the hallmark of winners. An absolutely stunning performance by all concerned. Well done, chaps! 

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Monday, 4th March at 8.00pm (Premier League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon