Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle | 5 Talking Points | EPL 2021-22
Last week, Arsenal received their annual drubbing at Anfield as they lost 4-0 to Liverpool. But this time the defeat felt different. This wasn’t the Arsenal of old. This was a team building towards something and wasn’t to be defined by one poor result. The Gunners had the chance to render that result a distant memory with the visit of a Newcastle side with their own problems.
After a tedious first half best summed up by a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang howler, Arsenal came out of the break fired up with newfound intensity. That intensity would translate into a lead in the 58th minute after a bit of quick combination play down the left-hand side. Bukayo Saka finished off the move by superbly shooting across the keeper.
10 minutes later, Gabriel Martinelli continued the theme of beautiful goals. He placed a perfect volley to secure all three points for the Gunners. The win lifts Mikel Arteta’s men into joint-fourth while the Magpies stayed rooted in the 20th.
Here are five talking points from Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle.
#5 Martin Ødegaard is warmnig up
A lot was made of Martin Ødegaard permanently joining in the summer. He was billed as the next Mesut Ozil, the player to solve all of Arsenal’s creative woes.
He sadly has not done that this season but today he showed glimpses of his quality. The Norwegian constantly found himself in between the lines, receiving the ball on the half-turn ready to unlock a resolute Newcastle low-block.
Martin Ødegaard has an immense ceiling. Unreal. Needs polishing but what a diamond. twitter.com/TikiTakaConnor…
Against 10 men behind the ball, the 22-year-old completed 100% of his take-ons. He also won seven duels and created two chances whilst maintaining an 84% pass accuracy. This performance was a step in the right direction, but more is needed from Arsenal’s marquee summer signing.
#4 Eddie Howe’s 1st game in the dugout
Despite being an experienced manager, Eddie Howe has entered his new job at a perilous time. Newcastle United sit bottom of the table without a single win to their name. Today’s game only further compounded his misery with another defeat and a blank in front of goal.
Attacking wise, the Magpies have an abundance of talent but defensively, they leak goals for fun. That explains why Howe opted for a more conservative approach today with 10 men behind the ball. They looked for long balls over the top for Callum Wilson in terms of attack. Alas, their negative tactics could only work for 56 minutes. After that, they were powerless to withstand Arsenal’s relentless pressure.
You can’t on the one hand say Newcastle were wrong to sack Steve Bruce, and then on the other say Eddie Howe faces an impossible task to keep them in the Premier League. It just doesn’t make sense. #nufc
Realistically, Newcastle weren’t expected to get anything from today’s game. But their upcoming fixtures against Norwich City and Burnley are must-win encounters. The Saudi Consortium will have to splash the cash in January if they are to have any hope of playing Premier League football next season.