Arsenal’s good house report this season got here to an finish towards the meanest defence within the Premier League as Newcastle held out for a 0-0 draw.
Eddie Howe’s facet have been resolute all through and did no matter they might to kill the pace of the sport, stopping Arsenal from discovering their movement.
Arsenal had a wonderful likelihood only a few minutes in as a scramble within the field fell to Martin Odegaard who, surprisingly, could not management his strike and lashed excessive and huge.
Nick Pope then needed to get down low to disclaim Bukayo Saka, earlier than Granit Xhaka hit the facet netting and scuffed one other effort from contained in the field, with Arsenal beginning the sport at a extremely excessive tempo.
Newcastle did a unbelievable job of slowing issues down, nevertheless, ending the onslaught on their objective and forcing Arsenal into loads of lengthy durations of gradual possession. The Gunners managed only one shot heading in the right direction earlier than the break, as did the guests.
The yellow playing cards began coming thick and quick as issues bought fairly heated – three for yellow and two for Newcastle within the first 45 – whereas VAR needed to chime in to wave away Newcastle’s penalty shout as a livid Dan Burn felt he was pushed late within the half.
The second half started with an analogous tone. Arsenal pushed arduous for an opener however Newcastle continued to repel their advances and infrequently regarded too uncomfortable doing so.
The Magpies slowed the sport down at each doable alternative, taking part in for free-kicks and attempting to run the clock down, with Arsenal and the house supporters clearly rising annoyed.
Gabriel Martinelli’s flick-on from a nook went agonisingly huge of the submit ten minutes from time, with Arsenal nonetheless struggling to get any actual sights of objective. With three minutes to go, Eddie Nketiah had one of the best look of all as he discovered an inch of area within the field, however his low strike was stored out by the foot of Nick Pope.
Arsenal have been screaming for a penalty with the final kick of the sport as Martinelli’s cross appeared to hit the arm of Jacob Murphy, however neither the referee nor VAR have been , and the sport petered out with some good touchline drama from Howe and Mikel Arteta.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 6/10 – Did not actually have a lot to do aside from apologise from a sloppy error early within the second half.
RB: Ben White – 7/10 – Had a enjoyable battle with Joelinton and was his traditional calm self on the ball.
CB: William Saliba – 6/10 – Nonetheless not trying himself. Did not actually do something improper however appears to be half a step behind the play lately.
CB: Gabriel – 7/10 – Practically buried a header within the first half and regarded the extra snug of the 2 defenders.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 5/10 – Stayed far too huge within the first half which left him very remoted from the play. Too wasteful in possession.
DM: Thomas Partey – 5/10 – Struggled to get issues going towards Newcastle’s press. Too destructive on the ball.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 5/10 – Clearly annoyed with a nasty problem within the first half that deserved the yellow card it bought. Felt a bit like an previous Xhaka efficiency.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 5/10 – Probably not concerned as a lot as he wished to be as a result of Newcastle marked him out of the sport.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 6/10 – Equally, hounded each time he bought on the ball. Grew into the sport because the clock ticked on.
ST: Eddie Nketiah – 5/10 – Struggled to seek out area within the field however did have some good moments attempting to steer a counter.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 5/10 – One other who put in a shift however was at all times outnumbered. Not quite a bit he may have performed actually.
Substitutes
Takehiro Tomiyasu (75′ for White) – 6/10 – Not a complete lot to do as Arsenal pushed for a winner however did make a pleasant cut-out to dam a late likelihood which might have been worn out for offside anyway.
Supervisor
Mikel Arteta – 5/10 – Arsenal have been the higher workforce on the ball however Arsenal had a extremely robust time of attempting to interrupt Newcastle down and Arteta clearly could not work out tips on how to repair that. Visibly wound up on the touchline.
GK: Nick Pope – 6/10 – Needed to climate a little bit of a storm early on however did not even have that a lot to do.
RB: Kieran Trippier – 7/10 – A unbelievable defensive job to maintain Martinelli quiet, however nonetheless managed to seek out the time to affect the sport in assault.
CB: Fabian Schar – 8/10 – One other impactful efficiency on the again. Stored his positioning completely and stopped Nketiah from discovering any area within the field.
CB: Sven Botman – 7/10 – Composed on and off the ball. Needed to be switched on from the primary minute till the final and did not disappoint.
LB: Dan Burn – 5/10 – Unsurprisingly struggled towards the agile Saka however did sufficient as a part of a two-man workforce towards the winger.
DM: Bruno Guimaraes – 6/10 – Was chargeable for urgent Partey and did an excellent job of stopping the Arsenal man from moving into his groove. Struggled with the identical remedy from Arsenal, nevertheless.
CM: Sean Longstaff – 6/10 – First rate on the defensive finish however his reluctance to become involved in assault was a little bit of an issue for the Magpies.
CM: Joe Willock – 7/10 – His power was immense as he doubled again to assist out defensively. A extremely spectacular work fee.
RW: Miguel Almiron – 5/10 – Did attempt to become involved however Newcastle did not have too many probabilities to run and Almiron was restricted because of this.
ST: Callum Wilson – 4/10 – Seemingly most enthusiastic about successful free-kicks and operating the clock down.
LW: Joelinton – 7/10 – Some sensational defensive work to attempt to assist out towards Saka. Most likely ought to’ve scored within the first half as properly.
Substitutes
Chris Wooden (68′ for Wilson) – 5/10 – Did not actually become involved both.
Jacob Murphy (68′ for Almiron) – 5/10 – Murphy coming into the sport forward of Allan Saint-Maximin tells you all the things it’s worthwhile to find out about Newcastle’s ways right here.
Allan Saint-Maximin (87′ for Willock) – N/A
Supervisor
Eddie Howe – 8/10 – Clearly got down to frustrate and gradual Arsenal down and bought that precise efficiency from his gamers. Maybe wanted to determine extra in assault however evidently got here for a degree and bought that.
