Report: Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (inc. goal)

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Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Rice, Merino, Trossard, Martinelli, Saka, Havertz

Subs: Neto, White, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Jesus, Sterling

Arsenal lost further ground on their title rivals after they were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle at St James’ Park, following a first half goal from Alexander Isak.

Mikel Arteta reverted back to the starting eleven that drew against Liverpool last weekend, after making eight changes against Preston for the 3-0 Carabao Cup win on Wednesday.

There was good news on the injury front with Gabriel deemed fit enough to start, while Ben White featured on the bench after struggling with a ‘joint issue’ over the past week.

It was an intense opening ten minutes from both sides who were quick to press and play long where possible, but Newcastle took the lead with their first shot of the game through Alexander Isak.

Isak initially played the ball wide to Anthony Gordon who played a brilliant first time cross back to the Swede, who found himself between the Arsenal centre backs and powered his header past Raya. 1-0.

Arteta’s men were rocked at that point and Newcastle were finding gaps in transition, but also finding it too easy to play through the press which seemed messy and unorganised – the opposite of what we’ve come to expect from this side.

However, Arsenal did have the next big chance and it fell to Mikel Merino who reacted quickest to some penalty box pinball but his goalbound effort was blocked on the line by Lewis Hall.

A frustrating first half was compounded by Gabriel Martinelli being pulled aside after being on the end of a blatantly wrong throw-in decision, before Bruno Guimaraes won a free kick after kicking Merino and writhing around in pain on the floor.

Newcastle were revved up on the pitch and in the stands, and you could feel Arsenal losing their grip on this game heading towards half time.

They didn’t look right tactically with Havertz pulling far too wide, their press being bypassed and creativity was sorely lacking in midfield. There was lots for Arteta to think about during the break.

Less than a minute into the second half, Newcastle almost doubled their lead after Gordon was given too much space again before playing Joe Willock through, but his effort was saved comfortably by Raya under pressure from William Saliba.

There was a half chance for Leandro Trossard moments later after he was played through by Martinelli but receiving the ball off-balance, his touch was heavy and Dan Burn was able to intervene in front of goal.

With half an hour to play, Arteta attempted to change the game with Ethan Nwaneri and Oleksandr Zinchenko both coming on, replacing Merino and Martinelli who both struggled down the left hand side.

Declan Rice was close to equalising after driving into the Newcastle box and seeing his deflected shot trickle just past the post, which was actually their first shot of the second half on 64 minutes.

White and Gabriel Jesus were also introduced with 20 minutes to play with Arsenal showing little signs of changing the game up until that point.

As the minutes ticked away for the Gunners, they pushed and probed for an equaliser but showed no signs of testing Nick Pope in goal or creating anything that wasn’t centred around set pieces or crosses.

There was a golden opportunity for Rice to rescue a point after being found at the back post by a trademark Saka cross, but somehow headed wide from six yards which summed up their performance.

This was a hugely disappointing day for Arsenal against a Newcastle side who executed their plan well, but showed nothing close to matching them physically, tactically, or showing enough themselves to break them down.

It’s possible that by the end of this weekend, Arteta’s men could be seven and eight points behind Liverpool and Manchester City respectively, which doesn’t make for good reading at the start of November.

Three Premier League games without a win and the fixture schedule isn’t getting any easier – something needs to change.

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