It took Arsenal until April to keep a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League last season.
But here in August — although you would not have believed it given the amount of rain that fell at St James’ Park yesterday — Arsenal achieved that feat in the opening game of the campaign.
It was not the most eye-catching performance and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal in the 58th minute, one of the rare moments of quality, was all that separated the sides.
However, it was exactly the type of display Unai Emery’s side so often failed to produce last season, particularly when on the road.
On too many occasions they were unable to hold firm and capitulated, resulting in that clean sheet at Watford on April 15 being their only one away from home in the League last season.
Given the conditions yesterday, and the fact Arsenal’s defence contained no new signings, it was questionable if they would be able to hold firm.
They were not at their best in the first-half, struggling to find their rhythm, and there were moments when they could have fallen behind as Joelinton flashed a header just wide and Jonjo Shelvey cracked the woodwork.
After a summer of discontent at Newcastle there was suddenly an optimism they could spring a surprise.
But they could not find a way through and instead Arsenal stayed compact and solid at the back, with Sokratis and Calum Chambers impressive alongside each other in the heart of defence.
The latter deserves extra praise given that when he left to join Fulham on loan last summer some supporters wondered if he would be back.
After being voted Fulham’s player of the season, the 24-year-old has returned, though, and yesterday was an indication of how much he has developed in 12 months.
“Last year was a very good year for Calum Chambers because he played all the matches with Fulham,” said Emery.
“They played him as centre-back in a three, in a two, and they played him as a midfielder. From pre-season, he deserved to play in the first XI and he was very focused and, with Sokratis, was also very serious.”
While Chambers and Sokratis may have laid the foundations for Arsenal’s defensive display yesterday, it was very much a team effort.
Granit Xhaka, who captained the side, and Matteo Guendouzi provided industry in the middle, while ahead of them youngsters Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson, both 19, deserve praise for their work going backwards, just as much for what they did going forwards.
The pessimists will refuse to laud Arsenal for keeping a clean sheet at Newcastle.
However, that is exactly what they struggled to do last season. They have never had an issue with scoring goals and only Liverpool and Manchester City netted more than them in the Premier League last season.
The fact the Gunners have added £72million winger Nicolas Pepe to the squad this summer should mean it won’t be a problem this term either.
But while Arsenal’s attack may have been the third best in the League, their defence was ranked 12th.
They shipped 51 goals, which was three more than their hosts yesterday. The also kept just eight clean sheets — City and Liverpool had 20 and 21 respectively. To put it bluntly, Arsenal had a top-four attack, but a mid-table defence.
Yesterday, however, gave hope that will not be the case this season. They will always be an offensive team — it is in their DNA — but there are signs they are starting to find the pivotal balance between attack and defence.
“Today, we struggled but we deserved it,” said Emery. “Our idea is to continue being one team, mostly offensive. But we need to also take the balance defensively. We started well and the next week is going to be another challenge.”
