During a year as a Newcastle midfielder under Rafael Benítez, Mikel Merino struggled to settle in the north-east. He departed for Real Sociedad without offering Tynesiders more than a few glimpses of his best work but, when Merino trotted on as a 70th-minute Arsenal substitute here, Eddie Howe had reason to be fearful.
At that stage Newcastle were leading thanks to Nick Woltemade’s second goal for the club but their manager did not need telling that Mikel Arteta’s reincarnation of Merino as an emergency forward last season proved one of the triumphs of his north London tenure.
Sure enough, the newcomer soon jogged a few memories. Seven years after leaving Newcastle, his headed equaliser not only showed Arsenal’s expensive new striker Viktor Gyökeres precisely how to make a penalty area impact but reminded locals of what might have been.
Moreover Merino’s goal created the springboard for the 96th-minute winner from Gabriel that, in ending Arsenals’s run of three straight defeats at St James’ Park, went an awful long way to restoring Arteta’s hitherto rapidly deteriorating humour.
Not to mention suggesting that maybe, just maybe, Arsenal are made of the stuff of potential champions after all. An earlier version of Arteta’s team might have surrendered in the face of Newcastle’s ferocious press but, this time, they finally refused to be defeated.
If the Spaniard’s knack of making smart substitutions was further emphasised by the late impact of Merino, Martin Ødegaard and Myles Lewis-Skelly, his team’s status as set piece wizards was further reinforced by two goals from corners.
Initially though it looked as if Nick Pope’s defiance might make it Newcastle’s day. The tone was set when, with Arsenal starting well, the home goalkeeper performed wonders to turn Eberechi Eze’s half volley around a post.
Pope sound found himself one on one against Gyökeres and, in real time, appeared to have conceded a clear penalty after sending the Sweden striker crashing. Yet when VAR intervened and the referee, Jarred Gillett, spent an unusually long time watching the incident on repeat on the pitch-side monitor, doubt crept in.
Slow motion replays indicated Pope had got an initial touch on the ball before his intervention inevitably prefaced the collision that brought the forward down. The incident divided opinion but Arteta detected no shades to grey; to say he was aggrieved seems an understatement. Crucially though, his players retained their poise, refusing to become distracted by perceived injustice.
Despite creating, and maintaining, an exhaustingly high tempo, Newcastle lived dangerously, most notably when Leandro Trossard hit the woodwork and Eze drew another stellar save from Pope after unleashing a vicious volley. Eze, operating as a No 10, was enjoying plenty of room for manoeuvre.
Then Newcastle won a 34th-minute corner. They played it short with Sandro Tonali exchanging passes with Anthony Gordon before crossing for Woltemade to head in.
As David Raya pointed to the fallen Gabriel and complained of a foul from Woltemade in the preamble, Eddie Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall congratulated Martin Mark, their new(ish) set piece coach for a dead ball routine evidently well rehearsed on the training ground. Arteta was left to make a forlorn plea for a VAR review but replays indicated the 6ft 6in Germany striker’s little nudge had been of the lightest touch, most fleeting variety.
At this juncture, with a visceral, almost feral, energy rolling down from the stands, Newcastle were pressing their guests into submission and Howe’s decision to start with a back four featuring Dan Burn’s reincarnation as a left-back looked inspired. The only question was how long could Howe’s side keep the relentless pace up? When would they burn out? How long could they shut Eze down for?
Not for too many more minutes it transpired. As the England winger suddenly began ghosting into space again and the crowd grew edgy, Newcastle’s lead looked almost painfully slender. When Eze wrongfooted Howe’s backline and Martín Zubimendi dinked a clever pass towards Jurrien Timber, it took another strong save on Pope’s part to keep the full back’s header out.
Howe immediately switched to a back five but that quintet soon required re-staffing when the England full-back Tino Livramento was carried off in tears after sustaining a nasty looking knee injury.
Newcastle’s remodelled rearguard certainly had no answer when Arsenal played a short corner routine of their own and Declan Rice swung a cross in the direction of Merino who, having dodged Sven Botman, directed an unstoppable header past Pope. Although Howe demanded a penalty when Anthony Elanga’s cross struck Gabriel’s arm a VAR review concluded the opposite and the force seemed, almost inexorably, with Arsenal.
Confirmation came when, with Arteta having released the handbrake by introducing almost every available visiting attacker, Gabriel struck at the 11th hour. For once even Pope was left wrong footed as the defender headed Ødegaard’s corner home and Arsenal celebrated as if they had just won the title itself.
