Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle United: 5 talking points as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang brace leads Gunners to a comfortable victory | Premier League 2020-21
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored on either side of a Bukayo Saka strike as a clinical Arsenal side put three unanswered goals past a clueless Newcastle United outfit in their Premier League encounter at the Emirates Stadium on Monday.
This was a game that sprang to life in the second half. Both sides struggled to make an impact in an uneventful first half that was quite reminiscent of their FA Cup clash last weekend.
However, the hosts emerged after a half-time interval a changed side and took the lead five minutes into the second half after Aubameyang confidently finished off a swift counter-attack.
Ten minutes later, the home side doubled their advantage through Saka, who was on hand to sweep home Emile Smith Rowe’s cut-back from the left wing past a hapless Karl Darlow in the Newcastle net.
Aubameyang then put the game beyond doubt by applying the finishing touch to yet another incisive Arsenal move, side-footing Cedric Soares’ cut-back into the net to bag his second of the game.
Newcastle were unable to make any sort of impact on proceedings, with Bernd Leno largely untested in the Arsenal net. The Gunners moved up to the top half of the table with this result.
On that note, let’s take a look at the 5 major talking points from Arsenal’s comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle United.
#1 Arsenal and Newcastle United face off for the second time in 10 days
One topic that was highly discussed in the build-up to this fixture was the fact that these two sides had faced off just over a week ago when they came up against each other in the third round of the FA Cup.
The Gunners ran out 2-0 winners on that occasion, with goals in extra time from Emile Smith Rowe and Aubameyang sealing the win for the defending champions.
As such, this Premier League clash served as a rematch of sorts, giving football fans the opportunity to look out for the progress made and lessons learned by both sides from their previous encounter.
A win would be extremely welcome for both teams. While Arsenal were looking to move up to the top half of the table with three points, Newcastle United were aiming to put a bit of daylight between themselves and the relegation zone with a positive result.
As a result, in contrast to their cup clash, both sides took to the field with arguably their strongest playing eleven. Newcastle made four changes as compared to Arsenal’s six.
#2 Arsenal’s youngsters continue to impress
After realising the lack of creativity in the Arsenal midfield, manager Mikel Arteta turned to his side’s youngsters for inspiration as he assigned regular starting berths to the likes of Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka.
This alteration has proved to be something of an instant success and has coincided with the most successful period of the Gunners’ campaign thus far.
Not only have Smith Rowe and Saka energised the team with their innovation and exuberance, but they have also made tangible contributions to the team’s successes by scoring goals and contributing assists. On this occasion, Smith Rowe set up Saka for the second goal.
With Arsenal unlikely to make notable acquisitions in the January transfer window and with Mesut Ozil all but confirming his exit from the club, it appears that Arteta will be keeping his faith in the youngsters for the duration of this season at least.