Steve Bruce speaks ...
“I thought Andy [Carroll] played very well and if he’d topped it off with a goal it would have been very good for him, after hias goal last week,” he tells the BBC. “There was a lot of pleasing things and we’ve had a run of tough fixtures, but we’ll dust ourselves down and go again.
On taking positives from the game: “I’ve found positives in all of the games over the past 10 days,” he says. “It’s not easy when you’ve played Man City, Liverpool, Leicester and now Arsenal away.
“It’s been a particularly difficult period, but I’ve seen positives. We’re trying to play higher up the pitch which I think is pleasing. We’re creating a few more chances.”
Emile Smiith-Rowe speaks ...
“I was really happy,” he says of his goal in an interview with the BBC. “It was a bit of a relief for me. The [red card] incident before that wasn’t ideal but it wasn’t intentional.
“We knew coming into the game how tough it was going to be, that they’re a really strong opponent, but it was just about breaking them down and we’re happy to get the win.
“It’s great, you know. From a young kid, I’ve always wanted to play for this club. All us young kids are just looking for opportunities and I’m really happy to be playing with this club.”
I know he’s just a young lad who’s probably been media trained to within an inch of his life, but if ever an interview was in keeping with the quality of the match that preceded it, that was it.
Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (aet)
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeep! It’s all over and Arsenal are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. THey made heavy weather of it but got there in the end, leaving it until extra time before breaking the deadlock with goals for Emile Smith-Rowe and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang.
unlike in their League Cup quarter-final defeat at the hands of Brentford Newcastle’s players put in a decent shift and had chances to win the game in 90 minutes, but ultimately go home with nothing.
ET30+1: Arsenal substitution: Cedric goes off to be replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
ET29: Dwight Gayle, whose arrival on the pitch from the Newcastle substitutes’ bench bypassed me completely, appeals for a penalty, claiming he was fouled by Cedric. None is forthcoming.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (Aubameyang 118)
Boom! Aubameyang stabs the ball home from five or six yards out, connecting with a low drilled cross from the outstanding Tierney.
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ET27: Having wasted a glorious chance to win the game in the final minute of added time in normal time, Newcastle now look likely to lose it. It’ll be a long journey home for them ... but then, it was always going to be a long journey home for them. Newcastle is a good distance from London.
ET24: Elliot Anderson finds himself on the ball down near the corner flag in Arsenal territory but is immediately surrounded by three Arsenal players. With nobody to pass it to, he’s crowded off the ball.
ET21: Far be it from me to point my big finger of blame in the direction of any Newcastle player, but Ciaran Clark was at fault for that goal. He lost his man and got his legs in a tangle as the ball came towards Smith-Rowe, giving the Arsenal substitute time to chest it down and drill it through his legs and past Dubravka.
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GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Smith-Rowe 109)
GAH! Sent off earlier, only to have his red card overturned, Emile Smith-Rowe fires a low diagonal shot in off the foot of the upright from a tight angle. That’s an excellent finish.
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Extra time second half: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
ET16: Play resumes with a minimum of ado, with everyone eager to get home to their beds.
Half-time in extra time: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
Peep! It remains scoreless. Is either side going to ruin our fun by scoring and denying us a penalty shoot-out? They should have had one at the end of normal time - I’m fairly sure neither manager nor their players would have objected.
ET14: Arsenal are in the ascendency but the deadlock remains resolutely unbroken as we approach half-time in extra-time.
ET12: Pepe has a shot blocked by Ritchie in the Newcastle penalty area after controlling a Mari pass from deep brilliantly on his chest.
ET11: Bukayo Saka squares the ball into the Newcastle penalty area, but it’s hacked clear.
ET9: Matt Ritchie trips Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in his own penalty area as the Arsenal man tries to dribble past him. It’s looks to be a penalty, but referee Chris Kavanagh misses it and so too does his video assistant referee Andre Marriner.
ET5: Saka sends the ball towards the far post, where David Luiz heads it back across the face of goal, Hayden heads it clear but only as far as Eleneny, who shoots wide.
ET4: Granit Xhaka absolutely leathers a dropping ball on the volley from outside the Newcastle penalty area, forcing Dubravka to tip the ball over for a corner.
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ET3: Arsenal go close, Emile Smith-Rowe linking up with Ciaran Tierney only to see his shot take a deflection.
Extra time: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
ET1: Newcastle get the ball rolling.
Full-time: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
We’ll have extra time. Splendid, we get another 30 minutes of this fairly turgid dross after Andy Carroll squandered two good chances to win it for Newcastle.
90+4 min: Chris Kavanagh brandishes a red card in the direction of Emile Smith-Rowe for a foul on Sean Longstaff, that prompts a blood-curdling scream from the Geordie. On the advice of his VAR, Andre Marriner, he takes a look at the pitchside monitor before downgrading the red to a yellow.
90+3 min: Andy Carroll misses a glorious opportunity to win it at the death for Newcastle, failing to convert on ther follow-up after forcing a splendid save out of Bernd Leno from close range.
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90+2 min: Ciaran Clark is booked for a foul and Isaac Hayden sees yellow for kicking the ball away in a fit of petulance.
90+1 min: We’re into added time and there’ll be three minutes of it.
89 min: While the option isn’t open to him (and more’s the pity), I suspect if referee Chris Kavanagh was to offer the option of going straight to a penalty shoot-out without having to play extra time to both managers right now, they’d both snap his hand off.
88 min: This corner is sent long and deep, but is too high for Andy Carroll, who concedes a free-kick.
86 min: Newcastle freekick from just inside their own half. Sean Longstaff booms it long and Andy Carroll wins a corner off Cedric.
85 min: Into the last five minutes of normal time we go, with extra time and possibly penalties very much ahoy unless somebody can find a late winner.
84 min: Ritchie sends a diabolical delivery towards the near post, where Jeff Hendrick contorts himself in an effort to back-heel the ball goalwards. Wide.
83 min: Newcastle win a corner when Andy Carroll has a left-footed shot from outside the Arsenal penalty area deflected wide.
80 min: Newcastle double-substitution: Joelinton and Miguel Almiron off, DeAndre Yedlin and Elliot Anderson on. An 18-year-old from Whitley Bay, Anderson is making his senior debut for Newcastle. Congratulations to him.
78 min: Andy Carroll goes to ground halfway inside his own half, appeals to referee Chris Kavanagh to stop play and is ignored. Play continues with Arsenal on the ball.
77 min: Newcastle throw-in, half-way inside the Arsenal half. They lose possession when somebody or other fouls Pepe.
76 min: Saka fires over the bar from the edge of the Newcastle penalty area, after taking a pass from Ciaran Tierney.
74 min: Tierney stands the ball up for Aubameyang near the edge of the six yard box, but the Arsenal striker sends a looping header into the arms of Dubravka.
71 min: Pepe rides a challenge from Paul Dummett and advances towards goal and curls a shot from just outside the penalty area well wide of the far upright.
70 min: Newcastle substitution: Jacob Murphy on for Emile Krafth.
67 min: Both teams seem to have up it a gear, perhaps eager to avoid having to play extra time. That’s the spirit, lads.
Newcastle have a Premier League game against Sheffield United to play on Tuesday at 6pm, so they could definitely do without the overtime.
65 min: Arsenal double-substitution: Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka on for Joe Willock and Willian.
64 min: Joe Willock brings a very smart save indeed out of Martin Dubravka, getting on the end of an excellent Nicolas Pepe cross and sending a downward header bouncing goalwards.
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63 min: Arsenal substitute from a couple of minutes ago: Emile Smith-Rowe on for Reiss Nelson.
60 min: Aubameyang runs on to a ball from deep down the inside left and tries to lift it over the onrushing Dubravka asnd steer it goalwards with the outside of his right boot. He succeeds in the first part of his fiendish plan, but not the second as his shot is weak and off target.
59 min: Newcastle are having the better of this second half, but a promising attack breaks down when Emile Krafth overhits a cross from the left.
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56 min: Newcastle win a free-kick wide on the left. Matt Ritchie overcooks his delivery towards the far post, where David Luiz can only half-clear. Kieran Tierney fails to boot the ball clear with any conviction and Jeff Hendrick drives the ball into the mixer.
It’s on a plate for Andy Carroll, who steers the ball wide when it looked way easier to score. He’s flagged for offside but replays show he wasn’t.
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55 min: Andy Carroll gives Bernd Leno a fright with an instinctive shot that takes a deflection. The goalkeeper saves comfortably.
53 min: In dire need of some cutting edge, Arsenal send Emile Smith-Rowe to warm up. Despite his inexperience, he has shown enough in recent games to suggest he might be just the man to pick the lock of Newcastle’s defence.
51 min: Nicolas Pepe shoots from distance, but doesn’t trouble Dubravka with a feeble effort that bounces wide of the right post.
48 min: Joe Willock conedes a free-kick about 30 yards from his own goal for a foul on Jeff Hendrick. It’s a routine from the training ground and Newcastle get the ball to Carroll, who heads wide from a long way out.
47 min: Arsenal free-kick, wide on the right, in line with the edge of the Newcastle penalty area. Pepe curls the ball across the face of goal, where Ciaran Clark heads the ball straight up in the air. It goes wide off an Arsenal player ... Kieran Tierney, I think.
Second half: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
46 min: Play resumes after a first half which passed quickly enough without either team playing particularly well. BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Ian Wright were both highly critical of their respective former teams, but Arsenal were undoubtedly in the ascendency.
Newcastle substitution: Matt Ritchie is on for Jamaal Lascelles. Paul Dummett moves to the left of Newcastle’s three central defenders and Ritchie takes up his spot as left wing-back.
Half-time: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle United
Peep! The deadlock remains unbroken but Arsenal have been very much in the ascendency. They’ve forced several saves out of Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal, while his Arsenal counterpart Bernd Leno has had nothing to do.
45+1 min: On a scampering run through midfield, Almiron is pulled back by Cedric, who gets booked for his troubles. Free-kick for Newcastle, about 40 yards from the Arsenal goal. Sean Longstaff curls the ball towards Andy Carroll but it’s out of reach for the big man.
43 min: Relentless pressure from Arsenal, who are lacking somebody to make that killer pass that could put Newcastle in all sorts of bother.
Newcastle are to be commended on their disciplined defending, with Arsenal’s main source of danger being Ciaran Tierney and his crosses and pull-backs into the box from the left wing and byline.
41 min: Pepe takes the corner short, playing a give and go with Willian. Arsenal end up forcing another save out of Dubravka who concedes another corner. Nothing comes of this one, with Newcastle clearing the ball after Arsenal had pressed and probed around the edge of their area.
40 min: Another Arsenal corner, with Dummett putting the ball out again, this time during a tussle with Cedric.
38 min: Another delivery into the Newcastle box from deep is claimed confidently and comfortably by Martin Dubravka, who’s having a good game following his recall for this Cup tie.
38 min: Willian’s delivery from the corner flag is headed clear by Joelinton.
37 min: Paul Dummett heads a Ciaran Tierney delivery into the Newcastle penalty area out for a corner.
35 min: The camera cuts to the stands, where Gabriel Martinelli, who got injured in the warm-up, is opening a protein bar.
33 min: Good defending from Isaac Hayden after Pepe and Aubameyang combine well down the right. The Newcastle defender dispossesses Pepe with a well timed tackle near the edge of the Newcastle six-yard box, but his opponent made it easier for him by taking one touch too many when perhaps he should have squared the ball.
32 min: Kieran Tierney gets the better of Miguel Almniron and curls a cross into the Newcastle penalty area. Jamal Lascelles despatches back down the field with a firm header.
30 min: In her role as referee’s assistant, Sian Massey-Ellis incurs the wrath of Joelinton for signalling a goal kick for Arsenal when he thinks it should have been a corner.
28 min: Reiss Nelson eschews the opportunity to shoot first time from seven or eight yards out after being teed up by a wonderful Kieran Tierney pull-back. His indecisive dithering costs him and the ball ends up being smothered by Martin Dubravka. Arsenal should be one up.
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26 min: Andy Carroll gets booked for catching Joe Willock on the side of his head with an elbow as he leapt to contest a high ball with the Arsenal midfielder. His eyes were on the ball and there was zero intent, but referee Chris Kavanagh quite literally marks his card.
25 min: Dubravka pulls off an excellent save from Aubameyang, who’d been played in behind down the inside right by an excellent long pass from David Luiz. The ball breaks to Willian, who sizes up the sitiuation, takes aim and fires ... high over the bar.
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24 min: Another Newcastle throw-in, in line with the edge of the Arsenal penalty area. Sadly, they don’t seem to have anyone capable of Delaping the ball long into the penalty area and nothing comes of it.
23 min: Newcastle throw-in, halfway inside the Arsenal half. Andy Carroll perks up.
20 min: Joelinton beats Joe Willock in midfield and canters towards the Aersenal penalty area. He plays the ball wide to Andy Carroll, whose shot is deflected up in the air and cleared. It’s early yet, but Joelinton looks like a man who is playing with no confidence whatsoever. His pass to Carroll was both indecisive and inaccurate.
19 min: A poor touch from Willock puts the ball out for a Newcastle goal-kick, which Martin Dubravka seems in no great hurry to take. He eventually boots the ball far down the field and within seconds, it’s back at his feet.
16 min: After an entertaining opening 10 minutes, the game has become a little more turgid. Not much of note to report at all. Cedric does seem to have hurt his knee, but is soldiering on.
13 min: Arsenal continue to dominate possession, patiently Arsenaling the ball around to little good effect until Cedric is penalised for offside.
10 min: Reiss Nelson fails to control a good Nicolas Pepe ball into the Newcastle penalty area after some excellent build-up play from Arsenal. The ball bounces wide, but with a better touch he could have set himself for a shot on goal from 10 yards out.
7 min: Ciaran Clark clips the ball skywards towards the edge of the six-yard box, trying to pick out Andy Carroll. After a period of sustained Newcastle pressure, Arsenal break on the counter and Jamaal Lascelles takes out Reiss Nelson with a scything tackle that earns the Newcastle skipper a yellow card.
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7 min: Jeff Hendrick sends a cross into the Arsenal penalty area from the left. Pablo Mari sends it packing with a thumping header.
5 min: Paul Dummett fouls Nicolas Pepe, giving Arsenal a free-kick about 25 yards from the Newcastle goal, a little to the right of the D. Willian drives the ball straight into the defensive wall. A very poor knee-high effort from the Brazilian.
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4 min: Playing his first ever FA Cup match, Bernd Leno gets a touch, gathering a low cross from the left.
2 min: Nicolas Pepe tries his luck from distance, bringing another save out of Dubravka. Nothing spectacular required from the Newcastle goalkeeper, but he’s been busy in these very early stages.
1 min: Late call-up Reiss Nelson cuts in from the left and unleashes a low shot that forces Martin Dubravka to make an early save.
Arsenal v Newcastle is go ...
1 min: Newcastle get the ball rolling, their bench a little light after Jonjo Shelvey and Callum Wilson were withdrawn from their squad this morning for unspecified reasons that may or may not be related to Covid-19.
Pain, nothing but pain 😞 https://t.co/zcftrZ8AwS pic.twitter.com/7Ze8uTzbop
— #14 (@AFCTempo) January 9, 2021
Martinelli is out. The footage of Martinelli’s injury does not look at all good - I think he’s wrenched his knee. He’s been taken out of Arsenal’s starting line-up and will be replaced by Reiss Nelson.
Great news for Arsenal fans: Gabriel Martinelli has managed to injure himself during a game of rondo in the warm-up, over-stretching himself to try to keep possession of the ball and doing himself some sort of mischief. He’s receiving treatment but it doesn’t look good.
Newcastle: It’s quite a gung-ho line-up from Steve Bruce, who starts with a classic ... er, Big Man-Big Man partnership of Andy Carroll and Joelinton up front.
Having been passed fit by the doctors after recovering from a bad dose of Covid-19, Jamaal Lascelles is back in the side and will wear the captain’s armband.
Arsenal: There’s no place for Runar Runarsson in goal for Arsenal, following the error he made when given a chance against Manchester City in the League Cup. He’s on the bench, with Bernd Leno starting between the sticks.
Mikel Arteta does make seven changes, affording some of the senior players who have let him so down badly this season an opportunity to redeem themselves (or let him down again), while giving other fringe players a run-out.
Cedric and David Luiz start in defence, while Mohamed Elneny and Joe Willock are in the centre of midfield. Willian, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe, and Gabriel Martinelli also come in.
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Arsenal v Newcastle United line-ups
Arsenal: Leno, Cedric, Luiz, Mari, Tierney, Elneny, Willock, Pepe, Willian, Martinelli , Nelson, Aubameyang.
Subs: Runarsson, Chambers, Maitland-Niles, Xhaka, Saka, Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Lacazette.
Newcastle: Dubravka, Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Dummett. Hayden, S Longstaff, Hendrick, Almiron, Joelinton, Carroll.
Subs: Gillespie, M Longstaff, Ritchie, Gayle, Yedlin, Murphy, Anderson.
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TEAM-NEWS 🚨
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) January 9, 2021
HWTL ⚫️⚪️
🚨 Seven changes from West Brom...
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 9, 2021
⛔️ Cedric and David Luiz start
🤝 Elneny partners Willock
⚡️ Nico, Willian, Gabi, Auba in attack#EmiratesFACup
Tonight's match officials
Referee Chris Kavanagh
Assistant Referees Dan Cook and Sian Massey-Ellis
Fourth Official Gavin Ward
VAR Andre Marriner
Early team news
Allan Saint-Maximin (Covid), Jamal Lewis (knee) and Ryan Fraser (groin) remain sidelined for Newcastle, while Jamaal Lascelles is in line for a recall as he recovers from the delilitating effects of the Covid-19 virus, which has kept him out since November.
For Arsenal, Gabriel will miss out after testing positive for Covid, but Thomas Partey is expected to return from his latest injury set-back.
Alex Runarsson, Cedric Soares, Ainsley Maitlanbd-Niles and Joe Willock are among a host of reserves and fringe players who could get a run out this evening.
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FA Cup third round: Arsenal v Newcastle
Holders Arsenal begin their defence of the FA Cup with what, on paper at least, looks like a reasonably straightforward home tie against a woefully out-of-sorts Newcastle.
In 15th place in the Premier League and on the slide, Newcastle are expected to make what are known in football parlance as “wholesale changes”, while it would be no surprise to see Mikel Arteta give some fringe players a run-out this evening.
Kick-off at the Emirates Stadium is at 5.30pm (GMT) but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up.
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