There are many positives that Arsenal can take from the win over Newcastle.
There has been an endless supply of negatives that one can point to in many Arsenal games this season, however, on this occasion, there is an abundance of positives.
Nicolas Pepe
He is still nowhere a £72 Million player but if he maintains the form he produced yesterday then he soon will be. On more than one occasion he was surrounded by at least three players and that alone shows the immense respect the opposition are affording him. He has been a bit of a let down this season but he came good yesterday proving that if one is patient they will get rewarded.
Clean sheet
That is now three clean sheets in the eight Premier League games that Mikel Arteta has been in charge of and the second in a row and while it could be better it is still a huge improvement.
Bukayo Saka
The young man just keeps on producing game after game, he had a sluggish first-half but did not let it get him down and he showed how versatile he is. The 18-year-old was brilliant in the second half and the way he left the Newcastle defenders for dead to set up Nicolas Pepe was a sight to behold.
Transition play
The transition between defence and the forwards was a key element missing from the Arsenal game all season but not yesterday. The combination of Dani Ceballos and Mesut Ozil was too much for Newcastle to handle, they controlled the midfield and provided service to the forwards all game long.
Mikel Arteta
The man is growing into the job at an electric pace, he got it wrong against Burnley but did not allow that to faze him and made some big calls yesterday. Leaving out Gabriel Martinelli, starting Eddie Nketiah over Alexandre Lacazette and playing both Ceballos and Ozil were huge decisions and it was not just his team selection that worked, whatever he said at half time also had the desired effect that turned the game around.
There are many other positives I could have added to the list, Ozil return to form, Lacazette scoring and so on but this would have ended up being an opus and so five positives are enough to be celebrating right now.
Imagine being Chelsea tonight. They “scored” twice but the opposition have a clean sheet 😉
🤣🤣 be even better if it wasn’t against the Mancs!
Thats an ok score for us tonight, it puts us 7 points behind fourth, and in touch for a run at the table for a few games and see where it takes us. Chelsea aren’t great and neither are utd.
Very interesting, Reggie….a lot to play for.
Man utd will choke against smaller teams so not a big problem. Chelsea is no better either. some consistency and we are back in race for champions league.
var ruining everyones games besides for Liverpool’s.
I thought VAR got all decisions right in line with the rules, no problem for me
It helps for Arsenal to almost have a fully fit squad to select from at last.
And i also think chelsea were unlucky with things like
Kantes injury
Maguire not red carded for violent conduct
But i honestly dont care,the gap has reduced and next week we can move higher if we beat everton.And i think MA will prove to the board that he is the right choice not ancelotti
As hilarious it sounds to me, I say you are spot on.
Pepe is not 72mm, but they say se should invest 80mm palace asked for Zaha.
Zaha is proven un epl, but he has 3 goals and 3 assists so far un epl this season.
Pepe has 4 goals and 5 assists
Zaha, is not worth 80 mil Pepe is a better prospect than Zaha. Zaha is at the right club now, he should stay, thats his level.
Top 4 or 5 finish a must and we will achieve that!!!
Even top 5 you can get for Champions League footy if Eufa ban Manchester City !!
Spurs were so so lucky against Villa. Son was about to miss the penalty and then at 94th minute Viall gifted him a goal to let Spurs took all 3 points. Had they dropped points we might be withing 4 points of Spurs. Yesterday’s win for united has open the 4th spot as well. If we can win 3 to 4 games in a row then surely we are in the mix. But Arsenal this season is so so inconsistent that we have not managed to win back to back in the league for quite some time. I think we will be bit short this time also .
Talking about Son’s goal, I think the rule which allows a penalty taker to latch onto his own rebound is heavily stacked against the defending team, It should be reviewed imo
I agree
Yes the spuds were very lucky… would’ve been so different if Mings wasn’t ill with tonsillitis… and Engels wouldn’t have played!!
I didn’t think for one minute we’d score 4 on Sunday, so let’s hope it’s the start of a good run.