Match Report: Newcastle 0 – 2 Arsenal

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Newcastle United (0) 0 Arsenal (1) 2

Premier League

St. James’ Park, Barrack Road, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4ST

Sunday, 2nd May 2021. Kick-off time: 2.00pm

(4-2-3-1) Mat Ryan; Hector Bellerin, David Luiz, Gabriel Magalhães, Granit Xhaka; Mohamed Elneny, Dani Ceballos; Willian Borges da Silva, Martin Ødegaard, Gabriel Martinelli; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Bernd Leno, Bukayo Saka, Cédric Soares, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pépé, Calum Chambers, Pablo Marí, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith-Rowe.

Scorers: Mohamed Elneny (5 mins), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (66 mins)

Yellow Cards: Granit Xhaka

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 62%

Referee: Mike Dean

Assistant Referees: Ian Hussin, Dan Robathan

Fourth Official: Andy Madley

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Graham Scott; AVAR Peter Kirkup

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is playing today, as he continues his comeback from malaria, and Alexandre Lacazette (hamstring injury) and Kieran Tierney (knee injury) are both back in training, but today’s match could come too early for these two to play a part in it somehow. David Luiz has recovered from his own knee injury and will also feature in this match with manager Mikel Arteta likely to have an eye on the second leg of the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal on Thursday. Let’s go!

The match started with us in dominant mood, eager to make an early impression, and sure enough, within five mintues of the start, Hector Bellerin took the ball to the by-line, crossed it with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in mind; he missed it completely, but fortunately Mohamed Elneny picked the ball up on the edge of the Newcastle United penalty area, and he cracked it into the net for the opening goal of the day. A few minutes’ later we almost nabbed a second goal, when Dani Ceballos slotted the ball to Hector Bellerin on the edge of the Magpies’ penalty area, but his strong right-footed shot flew over the bar. Although the home side came back at us with chances by Federico Fernández and Allan Saint-Maximin, we never felt truly threatened; in fact Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s shot from close range which went narrowly wide of the mark, was far closer than anything Newcastle United threw at us in the first twenty minutes of the game. Unfortunately, Granit Xhaka was booked for a silly tackle, and yet it never fazed him at all, as on the half hour mark, Martin Ødegaard set him up for a perfect shot on goal, but his goalscoring luck deserted him and his shot was saved acrobatically by Martin Dúbravka in the Newcastle goal. Over the next ten minutes or so, Gabriel Martinelli, David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were all desperately unlucky in not scoring as our pressure on the home side’s goal started to get more intense. In fact, as the first half ebbed away, one was starting to wonder if Newcastle United was actually out on the pitch today, as all of the play came from a very good and competent Arsenal team.

And so, as form follows function, the second half began in earnest, and with it, our domination of the game continued. Sadly, just seven minutes after the restart, David Luiz was unable to continue because of a hamstring injury, and so Calum Chambers replaced him for the remainder of the match. The game started to get rather scrappy at this point, and Mike Dean brought this malarkey to an end by showing a yellow card to Federico Fernández for a nasty foul on Gabriel Martinelli. However, less than ten minutes after this incident, Gabriel Martinelli crossed the ball into the Newcastle United six-yard box for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to force it into the net for our second goal of the match. Calum Chambers should have made it three-nil with a superb header that went just wide a little later, and this started a period of Arsenal dominance with Hector Bellerin and Granit Xhaka getting close to scoring with very good and clever chances, and with just twelve minutes of the match remaining, Nicolas Pépé replaced Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was extremely fatigued by this point of the game; and in another attempt to rest important players, Mikel Arteta decided to exchange Martin Ødegaard for Thomas Partey with just five minutes left of the match, which petered out to almost nothing. In fact, the final act of the match saw Fabian Schär being dismissed by Mike Dean for a cynical foul on who else, but Gabriel Martinelli, who appeared to receive more than his fair share of punishment at St. James’ Park this afternoon.

A good win today, that pushed us into ninth place in the Premiership, above Aston Villa, and a clean slate too. This match, which in the greater scheme of things will be become forgettable, but if it has done anything, it will have given the squad confidence for the more important game against Villareal on Thursday night, which we hope will be remembered for all the right reasons. Fingers crossed.

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: Villareal at the Emirates on Thursday, 6th May at 8.00pm (Europa League). 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.

Arsenal win but the bigger story is at Old Trafford

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Arsenal won yesterday. But at the same time there was something bigger happening in Manchester.

United fans stormed the stadium and stopped the game taking place. And I stand by every single one of them.

Football without fans is nothing

Those fans that turned up to Old Trafford yesterday love their club more than any owner, player, journalist, presenter or pundit

They are the beating heart of the club.

The European Super League was two fingers up at those fans that turned up yesterday, turned up previously to Anfield, Stamford Bridge and Emirates.

Florentino Pérez called us legacy fans. He admitted that clubs take us for granted. They don’t care about us because they feel we will always be there.

Their focus is on growing the fan base abroad. And that is what the European Super League was all about.

Sky don’t care about us legacy fans either.

Gary Neville talking about “reform in English football”.

Start with the TV companies.

Stop making Newcastle travel to Brighton on a Monday night.

Stop scheduling Liverpool v Arsenal when the last train leaves at half time.

Put match going fans first when it comes to kick off times.

And what sums it up is I saw a Oxford United fan on Twitter moaning about the fans that went to Old Trafford because he “really wanted to watch the game”.

And that sums up the modern game

Fans fighting against those that own the club they love being criticised because someone’s Sunday evening TV viewing is ruined.

Roy Keane was the only one on Sky who truly spoke up for the fans, saying he would “applaud” every fan as they have had enough.

Arsenal won. And I back every fan that wants to protest the money men who are determined to destroy the game for us legacy fans.

Keenos

Match Report: Villarreal 2 – 1 Arsenal

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Villarreal (2) 2 Arsenal (0) 1

UEFA Europa League, Semi-Final, First Leg

Estadio de la Cerámica, Carrer Blasco Ibáñez, 2, 12540 Villareal, Castelló, Spain

Thursday, 29th April 2021. Kick-off time: 8.00pm

(4-2-3-1) Bernd Leno; Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Pablo Marí, Granit Xhaka; Dani Ceballos, Thomas Partey; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Nicolas Pépé; Emile Smith-Rowe,

Substitutes: Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Magalhães, Willian Borges da Silva, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Cédric Soares, David Luiz,Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny, Eddie Nketiah, Mat Ryan, Gabriel Martinelli, Arthur Okonkwo.

Scorers: Nicolas Pépé (72 mins)

Red Cards: Dani Ceballos (two yellow cards)

Yellow Cards: Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 53%

Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)

Assistant Referees: Rui Tavares (Portugal), Paulo Soares (Portugal)

Fourth Official: Tiago Martins (Portugal)

Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (Turkey)

VAR Team (UEFA): VAR Joao Pinheiro (Portugal); AVAR Luis Godinho (Portugal)

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restrictions

Of course, it goes without saying, but winning this year’s Europa League is our best chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, so this two-leg semi-final becomes more than crucial to us all now. The doubtful players for tonight’s match will all get a late fitness check, before Mikel Arteta decides whether it is worth taking a gamble with them or not. Either way, a win is imperative in Spain tonight. Let’s go!

The match started at a fast pace, as expected, and between the two sides, our organisation was better, and our passing sharper. However, it appeared to matter not; literally on their first attack within five minutes of the start, Villarreal opened the scoring with Manu Trigueros’ strong right-footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner of the goal, which had Bernd Leno beaten all the way. After the early goal, the pattern of the game changed somewhat, with Arsenal chasing and Villarreal holding. Slowly we started to make a presence in the game, with both Dani Ceballos and Bukayo Saka making their presence felt with some clever play and good shooting. Indeed, after twenty-five minutes, a superb piece of play by our forwards led to Bukayo Saka attempting to score with a clever left-footed shot from the right side of the box, which went high and wide to the left of the Villarreal goal. Unfortunately, just before the half hour, following a Villarreal corner, Raúl Albiol’s right-footed shot from the right side of the six yard box sailed past Bernd Leno and into the back of our net, which now made our task that much harder. However, five minutes’ later, a penalty was given, when Nicolas Pépé was brought down in the penalty area; but sadly VAR intervened and it was cancelled when our man accidentally caught the ball with his hand just before he was fouled. We had two free-kicks given to us by the referee on the right-hand side of the pitch three or four minutes’ apart, when Bukayo Saka was brought down in both instances, and incredibly, the two chances were wasted. Just before the break, Villareal had a free-kick awarded to them after Dani Ceballos brought down Juan Foyth just outside the penalty area, which earned the Arsenal man a yellow card for his trouble. The subsequent free kick was easily picked up by Bernd Leno and shortly afterwards Artur Soares Dias blew the half-time whistle, mercifully.

No changes for us at half-time, incredibly so, it has to be said, and quite early on, Nicolas Pépé was unlucky not to score when his close-range shot was blocked, but the subsequent corner was a wasted exercise. However, in the opening stages of the second half, we applied more pressure to the Villareal goal, but we just could not get through their defence. We certainly played with more conviction, and were creating more chances than we ever did in the previous half, but that precious away goal was eluding us. Just before the hour, Dani Ceballos was sent off for a second yellow card, and now being down to ten men, tonight’s match has suddenly become that much harder for us. Villareal took full advantage of the extra man and after sixty-two minutes, Gabriel Martinelli replaced Martin Ødegaard in order to push up and try and nick a goal from somewhere, anywhere. Bernd Leno made a fabulous point-blank save from Gerard Moreno, and with twenty minutes of the match remaining, Bukayo Saka was brought down in the penalty area; Nicolas Pépé scored from the penalty spot, and in a blink of an eye gave us an incredible lifeline. Étienne Capoue was sent of for an appalling tackle on Bukayo Saka, thus bringing the numbers down to ten men apiece, which equalled matters up nicely. With six minutes of the match remaining, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaced a tired Bukayo Saka, which certainly sparked matters up a notch or two; in fact he had only been on the pitch a few minutes before he ended up receiving a yellow card! In the five minutes’ injury time, Emile Smith-Rowe and Nicolas Pépé were replaced by Willian and Mohamed Elneny, but despite intense pressure on the Villareal goal, we lost the match by the odd goal in three, sadly.

How quickly matters turn around in the wonderful world of professional football! At one point, with two goals down, we looked dead and buried, with next to no hope of getting anything out of this contest whatsoever. Then came the penalty, the two sendings off, and the return of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and suddenly we were in with a chance of turning this match around. With the return leg at the Emirates next Thursday evening, the away goal in our top pocket, and with home advantage as well, we can turn this result to our advantage. With kitchen sinks and the suchlike being thrown in next week, after tonight’s performance and result, who would bet against us now? Who would dare to do such a thing? 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: Newcastle United at St. James’ Park on Sunday, 2nd May at 2.00pm (Premier League). 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.