Both teams came into this game in good form and it was Newcastle that tried to go for the jugular straight from the kickoff and Arsenal were on the back foot for the first 15 minutes. But there was a reason why Arsene Wenger started both Aubameyang and Lacazette and left them upfield on their own.
It worked perfectly as a brilliant breakaway pass from Mustafi found PEA on the wing, and his centre was perfect for Lacazette to do what he does best and put it in the back of the net. Iwobi got another good chance in the Magpies penalty area and (surprisingly :-]) the ball flew high over the bar.
Newcastle kept the pressure up tho and were not being shy about going for a quick equaliser and it was getting very congested in midfield – with both sides getting close up and personal. Arsenal were having the lions share of possession and had 64% in the first quarter of the game.
Arsenal were looking quite comfortable, but Newcastle came up with a sucker punch when Perez suddenly popped up in the Arsenal box and Newcastle were back in the game!
Just before half time, Lacazette was in a scoring position but instead chose to pass to Aubameyang, who must have been as surprised as us as he scuffed the ball completely and a fantastic chance went begging.
It was all square at half time and it is all to play for in the second period, despite the Gunners having over 70% of the possession….
The first 25 minutes of the second half also carried on with the hogs share of the ball, but they could simply not take advantage, and Newcastle were looking increasingly more confident the longer the game went on, so it was little surprise when Perez was in the Arsenal box on his own again, and gave the ball a little nudge to Ritchie who made no mistake, and the Magpies wwere looking to get their first win against Arsenal for 13 years. For both goals there was very little sight of our so-called defence…
I’m just wondering when the last time Arsenal lost five away games in a row because Newcastle are getting closer and closer to a third goal, and I haven’t heard much mention of our strikers in the last 20 minutes!
I can’t help but feel that there is no spirit in our side at all when we play away from home, and if the Emirates continues being a library with even less seats filled I really can’t see Wenger keeping his job much longer. But we all know that he will be saved by the Europa League at the end of the season. At least it makes a change from the FA Cup!
As usual Arsenal start putting the pressure on as the clock ticks down, but Iwobi hits it straight at a defender and Lacazette tried to score from an impossible angle instead of cutting it back, and the Gunners are running out of time very quickly.
Wenger finally decides to take Iwobi off and replace him with Nketiah, but with just 3 minutes left the youngster hasn’t got much time to save the Gunners. The Magpies are defending with their lifves and will be safely in the EPL again next season.