Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle United (24 Feb, 2024) Game Analysis،
Rampant Arsenal stayed on the heels of the top two in the title battle with an emphatic 4-1 victory over a struggling Newcastle United side in the Premier League on Saturday at a buzzing Emirates Stadium.
An own goal from Sven Botman and a simple finish from Kai Havertz put the home side 2-0 up at the break after a siege on the Newcastle goal before Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior struck in the second half to comfortably conclude the points.
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Arsenal's sixth consecutive Premier League victory this year took Mikel Arteta's third-placed side to 58 points after 26 games, two behind leaders Liverpool and one point adrift of Manchester City, who won 1- 0 earlier at Bournemouth.
It's crucial to win games and we need to put pressure on [Liverpool and Manchester City] and that's what we'll do,” striker Havertz told TNT Sports. “The fans give us so much energy, it's so important for us – it gives us a big boost.”
Arsenal opened the scoring after 18 minutes when the ball bounced off the knee of Newcastle defender Botman in his own goal following a goalmouth scrum after goalkeeper Loris Karius made a fine save from a Gabriel's header in a corner.
Six minutes later it was 2-0 when Havertz headed the ball home from the edge of the penalty area following a cutback from Gabriel Martinelli on the straight after a smart pass from Jorginho left Newcastle's defense exposed again.
Arsenal's dominance was reflected in their 64% possession in the first half with 12 goal attempts, four of which were on target, while Newcastle failed to save a shot in the first half of a Premier League match for the first time since March 2014.
Saka put the game beyond the visitors with Arsenal's third in the 65th, his 13th in the league this season, when he ran down the right and cut inside before firing into the far corner. away before Kiwior headed home a Declan Rice corner to make it 4-0.
Former Arsenal striker Willock got Newcastle on the scoresheet with a beautiful looping header into the far corner after 84 minutes following a pinpoint cross from Dan Burn, but by then it was too late for Eddie Howe's struggling team.
Arsenal have scored 15 goals in their last three Premier League matches and victory against Newcastle was the perfect tonic after their late 1-0 defeat at Porto in a disappointing Champions League last 16 first leg in midweek .
“I think it was very important [to win] it was a difficult match on Wednesday [in Portugal] and we wanted to win today – we did well today,” Havertz added.
The defeat leaves Newcastle in eighth place with 37 points.
“Arsenal were very good, but we weren't and we were punished,” Howe said. “We were off track in most aspects of our games, we didn't execute the basics well.”
