I’ll leave you with David Hytner’s match report from the Emirates. Thanks for reading and emailing. Bye!
Alexandre Lacazette speaks! “It was a big game. We knew it was going to be tough. The coach said we had to be patient and we did it today. We saw many videos. It’s always like this against Newcastle. I can feel the difference from last season. Now we may go to the Champions League. Me and Pierre are important for the team, like other players. Auba has helped me score many goals and I try to do the same. Why not go to the Champions League? I would like to score a lot of goals away. But if at the end we win it is the most important thing. We are more confident this season and everybody knows what we have to do.”
A hearty cheer greets the final whistle. It was an entirely forgettable game, but Arsenal were deserved winners against an insipid Newcastle side, goals from Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette enough to take them up to third with seven games left. They’re two points above Tottenham and Manchester United and three above Chelsea. Champions League qualification is in their hands.
Full-time: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
That’s your lot.
90 min+3: Mkhitaryan’s deflected shot goes over.
90 min: There will be four added minutes.
89 min: The locals are amusing themselves with a few chants about Tottenham now. It’s been a while since Arsenal looked down on their north London rivals.
86 min: Maitland-Niles surges down the right and slides a low ball into the middle, where Aubameyang just fails to connect. Newcastle have pretty much given up now. Arsenal win a corner. Lacazette and Dubravka challenge for it and the ball ends up in Newcastle’s net, only for Anthony Taylor to disallow the goal for handball. To be fair, it did go in off someone’s hand. It’s just that it was Dubravka, who’s wearing a pair of goalkeeper’s gloves, got the final touch. Oh dear.
84 min: Henrikh Mkhitaryan replaces Mesut Ozil, who had a decent game.
This is so simple, quick link-up play between Arsenal’s strikers too much for Newcastle to handle. Alexandre Lacazette starts the attack with a lofted prod to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It isn’t the best pass - I doubt he meant to put it into the air - but Aubamayeng improvises with a deft header to send Lacazette through on goal. From there, it’s inevitable. Dubravka comes off his line and that gives Lacazette the chance to beat him with a well-judged lob.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle (Lacazette, 83 min)
That should be that. Arsenal are heading third.
Updated
80 min: Diame uses his strength to make room on the left and dig out a cross. His ball doesn’t reach Rondon, though. Moments later Ki has a dig from 25 yards. Leno isn’t too worried as he watches the shot fly over.
77 min: Newcastle make their final change, Muto on for Ayoze Perez, who’s barely had a touch.
75 min: Kenedy replaces the anonymous Matt Ritchie.
73 min: The ball breaks to Ozil in midfield. He slips a stunning, curved pass through to Aubameyang, who shoots from an angle. Dubravka makes the save.
Updated
72 min: Kolasinac is booked for dissent.
71 min: Diame’s booked. This is drab stuff. All very bitty, neither team doing much of note, but Arsenal are doing just enough.
67 min: Newcastle make their first change, Isaac Hayden replaced by Ki, while Arsenal have brought on Mohamed Elneny for Aaron Ramsey.
66 min: Now Ramsey has gone down with an injury. His evening could be over - he’s already taken off the captain’s armband.
64 min: An Arsenal corner on the left. Ozil swings it in, Sokratis heads over. Moments earlier they’d appealed for a penalty, claiming that Dummett had handled when Lacazette burst clear. Nothing doing.
Updated
63 min: Newcastle have had 24% possession in the second half, which probably isn’t going to do much for their hopes of an equaliser.
61 min: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replaces Alex Iwobi.
59 min: Monreal, lunging to win the ball, catches Almiron with his studs showing. Almiron stays down for a while. Monreal’s booked despite getting the ball. He’s very annoyed. But he wasn’t in control when he went to ground.
57 min: There’s no hint of a Newcastle equaliser. The game is being played in their half. It’s been fairly dull since half-time. Pierre-Emerick Aubamayeng is going to be on soon for Arsenal. He’s receiving some last-minute instructions from Unai Emery.
55 min: Lacazette dummies it through to Ozil, clear on the left, but the angle’s too tight and his dink over the advancing Dubravka. Maitland-Niles has recovered, by the way, and is soldiering on for now.
52 min: Maitland-Niles has gone down clutching his right knee. ACTIVATE CARL JENKINSON.
48 min: Almiron breaks down the left and looks for Rondon in the middle. Mustafi clears.
46 min: Arsenal get the second half underway.
Half-time: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle United
... nothing happens. That’s the first half done with, then. Arsenal head in a goal to the good thanks to a smart finish from Aaron Ramsey. The hosts are comfortable at the moment and are 45 minutes away from rising into third place. This looks like a formality. Unless Newcastle are capable of perking up.
Updated
45 min+1: Arsenal mount one last attack, Ramsey slipping a pass through to Ozil. The German’s forced wide and he turns the ball back to Kolasinac. It ends up with Lacazette, who swivels and rams a shot past Dubravka - who’s grateful to see Ritchie save him with a heroic header off the line! What a clearance! Arsenal have a corner. From which...
45 min: There will be one added minute.
43 min: “Does Ramsey look very good now because he’s leaving or he’s actually just quite good and Arsenal are going to regret it?” says Zach Neeley.
The latter.
40 min: Arsenal are beginning to enjoy themselves. Ozil and Iwobi delight the crowd with a lovely series of flicks and tricks on the left, before the ball comes to the overlapping Kolasinac, whose driven cross just evades Ozil at the near post. Dubravka is grateful to claim it. Newcastle could do with half-time.
Updated
38 min: Arsenal are threatening to double their lead. Lacazette almost bursts through. Ramsey’s shot is charged down. The ball comes to Ozil on the right. He dinks a cross to the far post, where Kolasinac heads at Dubravka. He’s offside, though.
35 min: Almiron isn’t in the game. Newcastle need Almiron in the game.
31 min: Newcastle are on the hunt for an equaliser straight away, Rondon bullying the lumbering Sokratis on the left, and rumbling into the area. He’s through on goal now. Yet he’s off balance as he shoots and Leno is able to push wide at his near post. The corner comes to nothing.
It’s Arsenal’s first shot on target, but they won’t care, especially as it was a fine piece of play that pulled Newcastle open. Aaron Ramsey’s flick freed Lacazette, who was clear in the area. Lacazette’s control was poor but it bounced off the covering Yedlin and fell to Ramsey, who swept a low shot inside the left post with his left foot. The Welshman, captain for the night, isn’t going to have this one ruled out. Arsenal have a deserved lead.
Updated
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Ramsey, 30 min)
This one counts!
Updated
28 min: Lejeune launches a searching, straight ball over the top, and it completely catches Arsenal out. Sokratis and Mustafi have both dozed off and they’re immensely fortunate that Rondon can’t bring the ball down.
26 min: “The real question today is why the club that became famous in the 90s for adapting healthy diets now has such a large-waisted mascot?” Justin Kavanagh. “Never mind Brexit, fourth-place races, and other such trivialities, this is a question that needs answering Jacob.”
25 min: Iwobi crosses from the left. Lacazette, who’d given the seething Ritchie a little shove moments before the ball came in, flicks a header harmlessly wide. Dubravka hasn’t made a save yet. Good old Rafa.
21 min: Maitland-Niles wins a corner for Arsenal on the right. Iwobi and Ozil take it short. Ozil’s poor cross is cleared by Perez.
20 min: “Please don’t stress us out like that, could mean anything,” Zach Neeley says. “No more news please.”
18 min: Are you all watching the news?
17 min: Kolasinac’s deflected low cross fizzes straight through to Dubravka.
14 min: It felt pretty needless from Sokratis. It’s doubtful that Lejeune would have been able to leap high enough to stop the ball reaching Ramsey, whose run went untracked by Newcastle’s defence. It’s a big let-off for the visitors, albeit probably the right call from the referee to chalk off the goal.
Updated
13 min: Ozil sends the corner to the near post, it’s flicked on to the far by Kolasinac and Aaron Ramsey arrives unmarked to volley past Dubravka! Goal! Ramsey wheels away in celebration - but his joy is shortlived! Anthony Taylor’s blown his whistle and awarded a Newcastle free-kick after seeing Sokratis tug Lejeune’s shirt in the middle! Who needs VAR, eh?
12 min: A long ball over the top picks out Lacazette, who’s onside. He ends up winning Arsenal’s first corner. Ozil will take it from the left.
9 min: Diame nips in to rob Guendouzi, who responds by pulling the Newcastle midfielder down. Guendouzi, an amusingly snide player at times, especially for one so young, is lucky not to pick up a booking,
7 min: It’s been a fairly low-key start, with neither side stringing much together. Newcastle are not going to be expansive.
4 min: Maitland-Niles has a saunter down the right. And falls over. Not part of the plan. Moments later Mustafi launches in two-footed to win the ball off Almiron. He’s lucky not to catch the Paraguayan, else that could easily have been an early bath.
3 min: Arsenal are helping themselves to plenty of early possession, with Newcastle content to sit off. The visitors have lined up with a back five and could be tough to break down.
Peep! Newcastle, in black and white stripes, get the ball rolling. They’re kicking from right to left in the first half and their fans are making plenty of noise. In the home end, meanwhile, there are a fair few red seats.
Here come the teams! Football’s on the way. Let’s hope both goalkeepers have been studying Hugo Lloris training videos.
Rafael Benitez speaks! “They are doing well but we come here with confidence. We will try to do something. You have to be focused and concentrated because they have players who can make the difference.”
Unai Emery speaks! “Our focus is on finding our best performance. Our challenge is to continue winning here. We need a lot of respect for every team. Each match is very difficult and they are in a good moment. They are very organised and Rafa Benitez has big experience. We want to improve. We want to show good spirit to get third place.”
Newcastle will have ways of hurting Arsenal here. They have one of the best defences outside the top six, as you’d expect of a Rafa Benitez side, and Miguel Almiron has given their attack a bit more zest since his January arrival. With one defeat in their last six, they travel to north London in a confident mood. On the other hand they haven’t won away since 15 December. In fact they have two away wins this season: Burnley and Huddersfield, and have lost their last six games at the Emirates.
Updated
Team news
Arsenal: Leno; Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal; Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Guendouzi, Kolasinac; Iwobi, Ozil; Lacazette. Subs: Cech, Jenkinson, Elneny, Suarez, Nketiah, Mkhitaryan, Aubameyang.
Newcastle: Dubravka; Lascelles, Lejeune, Dummett; Yedlin, Hayden, Diame, Ritchie; Perez, Rondon, Almiron. Subs: Darlow, Fernandez, Kenedy, Ki, Manquillo, Shelvey, Muto.
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Updated
Preamble
Hello. Compared to how they were feeling a year ago, things are actually going pretty well for Arsenal. The supporters are no longer on the brink of civil war, there isn’t a furious debate about the manager every single minute of every single day and it is even possible to detect signs of a team heading in the right direction. Unai Emery’s first season since replacing that professorial French chap hasn’t been without its disappointments, such as an early exit from the FA Cup and a few dodgy away performances in the league, but the Spaniard’s team are in the last eight of the Europa League and, as it stands, a first top-four finish since 2016 is theirs to lose. Not too shabby, all considering.
A win here will lift Arsenal up to third, two points above Tottenham and Manchester United and three above Chelsea with SEVEN games to play, and the good news is that they haven’t made a habit of losing at home to teams like Newcastle under Emery. Only Liverpool, Manchester City and Wolves have taken points from the Emirates this season. Otherwise Arsenal have been dominant at home, sweeping stragglers and strugglers aside and even giving their rivals for in the race to qualify for the Champions League a good shoeing, and that makes it difficult to see them experiencing much trouble against Newcastle. Rafael Benitez’s side, seven points clear of the bottom three and drifting in 14th place, will have their work cut out containing Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
In Unai we trust, then. Sort of. Before everyone gets too excited, let’s not forget that five of Arsenal’s seven league games are away from home. They’ve only won once on the road in 2019, and that was against Huddersfield, so it doesn’t really count. Their travel sickness could yet be their undoing, while a European quarter-final with Napoli will also push them to the limit. For now, however, the mood is optimistic. A seventh consecutive home win is there for the taking. A place in the top four is theirs to snatch. It’s in their hands! In fact, you could even say that it’s ... up for grabs now!
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
