Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0
Arsenal back to 1st but they were far from their best. Arsenal return to the top of the table but it wasn’t easy up against Newcastle today, Eddie Howe’s team started the better side as Will Osula and Bruno Guimaraes both had early sights of goal within the first five minutes but neither troubled David Raya. A few minutes later Arsenal managed to grab the only goal of the game as a corner was worked short to Kai Havertz who laid the ball to the edge of the box where Ebere Eze was waiting to curl an absolute beauty into the top corner to give Arsenal the lead in the 9th minute, from then on in the first half nothing really of any note happened as Arsenal went into half-time in the lead. The second half was much the same until the 74th minute when Viktor Gyokeres was played down the line only to be met by Nick Pope who dragged him down after the Swede knocked the ball past him, the referee didn’t deem it enough to be a red card as Pope was issued a yellow card and in my opinion got away with one staying on the pitch. A few minutes later Newcastle got their big chance to equalise as Woltemade picked up the ball on the edge of the box and dinked a brilliant ball through to Wissa who skied his volley over the bar from just outside the six-yard-box, a miss that sums up his Newcastle career so far. From then Arsenal were able to see out the game and go back to 1st but there are still plenty of things to worry about for Mikel Arteta.
The win is all that matters for Arsenal. After the recent form that they have been on it was vital that Arsenal picked up three points today to keep themselves in the title race, obviously the performance wasn’t great which is becoming the norm for Arsenal over the last few weeks but that little sprinkle of magic from Eze was enough to get them over the line. We’ve known all season that Arsenal’s attack isn’t good enough but it has gotten really bad over the last month or so, Havertz got injured in the 34th minute which meant Gyokeres had to take the field in what was yet another pitiful display from the Swede which was summed up at the end of the game as he failed to play a pretty simple pass into the middle where three unmarked Arsenal players where waiting to finish the game as he passed the ball straight into the Newcastle defender. Arsenal had to rely on their defence yet again to get a result which did work in the end as they kept a clean sheet against a pretty blunt Newcastle forward line, if Arsenal do win the league this year they have the defence and Raya to thank for getting them over the line.
It’s turning into a horrific season for Newcastle and Eddie Howe. When the team news came out I was quite shocked to see the frontline Eddie Howe went with of Ramsey-Osula-Murphy which is a front three you’d expect to see from a relegation candidate but I guess it shows the situation Newcastle find themselves in at the minute, the return of Bruno Guimaraes is massive for them but they don’t have anything to play for the rest of the season now that they sit 14th in the league. Newcastle didn’t play badly at all today creating a few good chances for Osula and Wissa but the lack of cutting edge up top has cost them all season and did so again today, they limited Arsenal to very little all evening only conceding from a brilliant finish by Eze which ended up losing Newcastle the game.
Is it time up for Eddie Howe at Newcastle? Eddie Howe has undoubtedly been a great success at Newcastle since succeeding Steve Bruce but I think it might be time to look at a change in the summer for Newcastle, the summer window has been a huge factor as to why this season has been so bad for Newcastle with the Isak drama going on all summer along with missing out on big targets like Ekitike and Sesko leaving them to panic with signings like Wissa and Woltemade which haven’t worked out to this point. The Wissa signing in particular has been a disaster signing him for £55 million when he had a year left on his contract as he’s spent most of the season injured and out of form, then you look at Anthony Elanga who was signed for £55 million as well and is yet to score in the Premier League for Newcastle. Woltemade was the big signing replacing Isak for £70 million and it just hasn’t worked out with Howe resorting to playing him in midfield which I think says it all, I actually quite like Woltemade but he just doesn’t work in Howe’s system which is why he isn’t playing at the minute. At the end of the day every manager has their cycle and I think Howe’s has run out at Newcastle, will they change manager in the summer? I think they should.
Four games left in the Premier League for Arsenal. It’s Fulham next at the Emirates for Arsenal in the league but before then there is a massive game at the Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Arsenal do have the advantage of playing the first leg away which everyone seems to think is going to be a dull affair on Wednesday but Atletico are box-office at home and will undoubtedly take the game to Arsenal as they look to take an advantage to the Emirates next week. It’s important that Arsenal keep their eyes on both competitions as complacency can’t come into the team on Saturday against Fulham where they can go six points clear of City who will have two games in hand against Everton and Crystal Palace, that six point gap would put pressure on City who go to the Hill Dickinson next Monday which won’t be an easy game for them. A trip to Madrid up next for Arsenal who look to take an advantage back to the Emirates next week, lets hope it’s a good game on Wednesday.