It was the beautiful poster in England this Sunday. Newcastle welcomed Arsenal to St. James' Park as part of the 6th day of the Premier League. The Magpies were organized in 4-3-3 with Pope in the cages and had bet on a compact block to stifle London initiatives. From the outset, Eberechi Eze had alerted Nick Pope with a cross shot (6th), before a penalty was whistled and then canceled after verification of the Var for a fault supposed on Viktor Gyökeres (14th-6th-18th). Despite these cold sweats, Newcastle resisted. Arsenal, installed in an identical scheme in 4-3-3, was more dominant in possession and multiplied the offensive attempts. Shortly after, the Gunners had hit the post by Trossard (25th) and found Pope on their way several times, in particular on a superb recovery of Eze repulsed by the goalkeeper (29th). Arteta's men had the territorial ascendant, but lacked efficiency. The Magpies proceeded against and remained threatening by Murphy and Woltemade.
The first period ended with an advantage for Newcastle, the Londoners who did not manage to materialize their opportunities despite their domination. As soon as the locker room returns, Newcastle almost doubled the bet with the crossbar of Woltemade on a Livramento center, even if the action was finally reported offside (46th). Gordon then multiplied the breakthroughs in the opposing surface without finding a taker (55th). Arsenal was still pushing, but Nick Pope was decisive against Timber on a head at close range (59th). Declan Rice, omnipresent, made a saving defensive return to Murphy launched full axis (65th). In a match that has become more physical, Livramento had to give way on a stretcher after muscular contact (74th-76th).
A crazy end of the match
In the last quarter of an hour, Arsenal accentuated the pressure: Gyökeres missed an equalization ball by resisting the defense before knocking next (82nd). Finally, London efforts were rewarded thanks to Mikel Merino, head scorer on a corner perfectly worked by Rice and Eze (85th). Newcastle had believed to get a penalty after a center diverted by Gabriel Magalhães de la Main (87th), but the referee estimated that the ball had first hit the foot of the Brazilian before his hand and had let play. Additional time has been electrifying. William Osula hung William Saliba near the Arsenal surface, preventing the French defender, who seemed to be speeded, to be overwhelmed by the young Newcastle striker (90th+1). Then Martin Ødegaard had found Myles-Skelly in the depth of a luminous pass.
The young Gunner had thrown himself on the ball, but a Newcastle defender had managed to intervene in extremis and to concede the corner (90th+5). And on the following action, Gabriel Magalhães had arisen at the first post on this same corner to place a powerful head and offer a crucial goal to Arsenal (90th+6). This victory allows Arsenal to stay on the podium behind the leader Liverpool. Newcastle, despite a solid performance at home, concedes a frustrating defeat. On the next day, the Magpies will play against Nottingham Forest, while the Gunners will face West Ham in a premier League still very disputed.
