Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League thanks to a narrow 1-0 win over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium.
Eberechi Eze scored the only goal of the game in the opening 10 minutes, with Arsenal looking unconvincing.
But they did enough to get over the line, with Newcastle struggling to take their opportunities. It leaves Arsenal three points clear at the top of the table, while Newcastle remain down in 14th.
How Arsenal laboured to victory
Method to the madness
Arsenal have been the best set-piece team in the Premier League this season. In fact, they’re the best set-piece team in Premier League history. The Gunners have now scored 17 goals in the Premier League this season from corners alone, the most of any team in a single campaign.
But Arsenal risked the wrath of their fans early on. The Gunners had a couple of corner opportunities in the opening eight minutes, with Noni Madueke at the flag. He went short to Martin Odegaard on both occasions, which immediately brought groans.
The first corner failed, with an attempted pass to Eberechi Eze on the edge of the box intercepted. The second did end with a shot by Eze, but it went wide of the goal. That was clearly the plan, to work the ball to Eze who was being left unmarked. A third corner came shortly after. And this one worked perfectly.
Odegaard made his same run short, bringing his marker with him. That left a gap in the box for Kai Havertz to drop into. Madueke passed through the defenders directly to Havertz, who turned and found Eze on the edge of the box. Again, unmarked, Eze’s first time effort curled away from Nick Pope into the far corner. An excellent strike worthy of opening the scoring.
Arsenal’s patience had paid off, but questions do need to be asked of Newcastle leaving Eze unmarked for all three corners. And you can understand why Arsenal kept at it. The Gunners have only scored two goals from short corners in the Premier League this season. The first came agaisnt Newcastle in September, before Eze’s strike at the Emirates on Saturday.
Nervy Arsenal
Many jokes have been made about Arsenal’s perceived reliance on set-pieces this season. But against Newcastle they really did need their corner. With so much on the line going into the final few weeks of the season, nerves have certainly crept in at the Emirates. And it’s impacting the way Arsenal are playing.
They look like a team worried about dropping points, rather than one confident of winning. They’re looking over their shoulders, and not keeping their eyes forward on the prize. Last week’s defeat to Manchester City will have done some damage. Arsenal looked good and were worth at least a point, but they left the Etihad with nothing.
Against Newcastle, Arsenal didn’t really offer much. Odegaard tried to pull the strings from open play, but the attack weren’t as dangerous as they could be. It didn’t help that Havertz had to go off injured in the first half. Eze only lasted 10 minutes of the second half before coming off himself with an injury issue.
Arsenal had 11 shots at the Emirates, but only hit the target four times. Eight of those efforts came in the second half as the game opened up with Newcastle chasing an equaliser. But Nick Pope wasn’t really tested – despite the 0.56 Expected Goals.
The Gunners’ attacking woes were summed up by a failed counter-attack in injury-time, when Viktor Gyokeres passed straight to the only defender when there were a handful of Arsenal shirts with him.
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Newcastle their own worst enemies
Newcastle lost this game as much as Arsenal won it. Eddie Howe’s men were on top for a large enough amount of time to have scored at least once. David Raya definitely did his bit, and was well worth his clean sheet. But Newcastle could have tested him even more. William Osula air-kicked inside the box within the first minute, having been played through.
Osula had been picked to lead the line ahead of Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa, both of whom did come off the bench in the second half. He was a menace for William Saliba, keeping the Frenchman on his toes. But the Dane did not have a single shot on goal during his time on the pitch.
Newcastle didn’t have the spearhead their attack needed. Sandro Tonali had the most shots of any Newcastle played, with four. Dan Burn was second with three.
Even when Wissa and Woltemade came on, neither could find the breakthrough. Wissa had the chance, having been played through by Woltemade’s beautiful chipped pass. With just Raya to beat, Wissa skied his first-time volley high over the bar. That effort along was responsible for over half of Newcastle’s total xG tally (0.48 of 0.91).
From 13 shots in total, Newcastle hit the target three times. And they failed to make their last-second set-piece count, with Arsenal easily clearing Tonali’s free-kick.