Arsenal Premier League title hopes hit by Newcastle defeat
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak celebrates after scoring against Arsenal in their English Premier League clash.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
LONDON – Newcastle United put a huge dent in Arsenal’s title aspirations on Nov 2, after clinching a 1-0 English Premier League victory at St James’ Park.
Alexander Isak scored what proved to be the winning goal in the 12th minute, heading home Anthony Gordon’s pinpoint cross from the right.
“We are all a bit sad because we wanted to win today,” said Arsenal defender William Saliba.
“Unfortunately we didn’t and we didn’t play the game we wanted to play. We deserved to lose today I think.
“I think we didn’t play how we wanted to play and they were good as well. It’s OK, we are focused on the next week and it is not finished.”
Arsenal struggled to get out of first gear and although they dominated possession, they produced just one shot on target in the entire game.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now picked up just one point in their past three league games as their title push quickly runs out of steam.
The Gunners have pushed Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City hard in each of the past two seasons and appeared to be well-equipped for another title challenge, but it does not seem to be the case this time.
The injury-hit visitors started brightly in the opening seconds, with Leandro Trossard dragging the ball wide.
But the home side, who had not won their past five league matches, quickly settled and Sweden forward Isak got between Gabriel and Saliba to head home from Gordon’s exquisite first-time cross.
“That was massive, against a big team. It means a lot to the fans that we can win this game,” said Isak.
“Arsenal have a strong defence and so it is a difficult task but I’m happy we could score today and keep a clean sheet. We’ve had a bad spell but hopefully this win can be a bit of an icebreaker for us.”
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka then headed just wide in the 18th minute after leaping above his marker.
Newcastle defender Lewis Hall blocked Mikel Merino’s shot on the line after a Declan Rice corner caused chaos, but the visitors lacked rhythm and failed to match the intensity shown by the home side.
Arteta opted against making changes at half-time and Newcastle came close to doubling their lead almost immediately but Joe Willock’s shot was saved by David Raya.
The Spanish boss threw on 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and Oleksandr Zinchenko for Gabriel Martinelli and Merino just after the hour mark.
Isak fired a shot at Raya that the Arsenal goalkeeper pushed away before Rice muscled his way into the Newcastle area and flashed a shot wide.
Arteta made further changes, introducing defender Ben White and forward Gabriel Jesus in the desperate push for an equaliser.
As the clock ticked down, they squandered a golden chance to level when Rice headed just wide from a Saka cross in stoppage time.
“You have to be really strong mentally and know results will turn if you continue to do the right things,” said Magpies manager Eddie Howe.
“It has been a difficult week with the fixtures but the players have done really well.”
The Gunners, still missing captain Martin Odegaard, suffered a shock 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth and drew 2-2 with Liverpool in October.
They have tough games coming up against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Nov 6 and Chelsea on Nov 10. AFP
