Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Saka, Nketiah
Subs: Turner, Tomiyasu, Holding, Tierney, Elneny, Lokonga, Vieira, Marquinhos, Butler-Oyedeji
—
Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table to 8 points after a 0-0 draw with Newcastle at the Emirates this evening.
Mikel Arteta named an unchanged side from the win over Brighton, while the only change on the bench was in the inclusion of young forward Nathan Butler-Oyedeji, with no sign of Cedric who has been linked with a move to Fulham.
With the rain and wind swirling, Martin Odegaard had the first sight of goal, firing over with his left foot from a good position in the 4th minute. Bukayo Saka was next, Pope saving with his feet after the England man fizzed beyond Dan Burn into the box. A mazy run from Saka then fashioned a chance for Xhaka but it hit the side netting.
Callum Wilson had the visitor’s first effort in the 11th minute, but his tame shot didn’t trouble Aaon Ramsdale. There was a chance for Xhaka to shoot but he miscued, and Odegaard caused Burn hassle down our right hand side.
The game settled down a bit – Wilson and Guimares picked up yellow cards for fouls on Saliba and Nketiah respectively, before Nketiah followed them into the book. It was cagey stuff, Newcastle sitting deep and denying us space, and Arsenal finding it hard to break them down.
Gabriel looped a header not far wide from an Odegaard free kick, a mistake from Zinchenko provided danger for Newcastle which we dealt with, and Xhaka was next man to pick up a yellow card as we headed towards the break. There was late danger when Joelinton headed wide at the back post from a flicked-on corner, but it was stalemate as the teams went in for half-time.
There were no changes at the break, and early on Ramsdale was caught on the ball in our box but thankfully Newcastle couldn’t take advantage. Odegaard fired over after good build up from Partey and Xhaka, then Joelinton picked up a yellow card for a foul on Saka as he drove towards the box. Almiron also got booked for not retreating 10 yards.
From the free kick, Burn clearly held Gabriel’s shirt, but VAR decided that it wasn’t worthy of a penalty. Martinelli tested Pope with a curling shot from just outside the box, Nketiah drove into the box, and Eddie Howe made changes bringing on Wood and Murphy for Almiron and Wilson in the 68th minute.
Mikel Arteta made his first change in the 75th minute when Takehiro Tomiyasu replaced Ben White. Arsenal applied pressure, and won a series of corners, one of which saw Martinelli head just wide of the far post. At the other end, a similar threat emerged from Newcastle who headed a cross not far beyond the post, but Ramsdale and Xhaka seemed to know it was going wide.
An Odegaard pass almost fell for Xhaka in the box, Partey saw a shot blocked, while on the sideline Mikel Arteta complained vociferously about Newcastle time wasting. Willock was replaced by Saint-Maximin, and immediately Nketiah had a great sight of goal with sharp movement but Pope saved with his feet.
The game moved into 5 minutes of added time, much to Arteta’s frustration who wanted more than that. There was late drama when Arsenal wanted a penalty for handball, but VAR said no. It led to the two managers rowing on the sideline, Arteta’s frustration with everything was evident.
A draw isn’t necessarily a bad result, but that it was so disappointing is a measure of our season. Maybe we missed options from the bench tonight.
Eddie Howe is just a fat Tony Pulis
Or a thin Sam Allardyce
not that much thinner
he’s increasingly similar to steve bruce, the wanker.
Starting to look like him too
if you voted this down you must also look like mrs doubtfire, and i’m sorry, this wasn’t to imply you look like eddie howe
I can hear that one ringing through the stands “You’re just a fat Tony Pulis…”
He did look like he enjoyed Xmas….
….and his family probably went hungry. The fat cunt.
I guess Newcastle are the draw specialists…
Very infuriating tactic. We have a better chance of beating them at their ground cos at least then they will play. I hate them.
Yeah, I don’t like them at all (especially that Guimareas guy – I think he hates Arsenal). We are seeing a rivalry develop between these two clubs though.
Newcastle remind me of Chelsea under Mourinho.
We need game changers from the bench. Also, one for partey, god forbid anything happens to him, depth required in the midfield.
Well that was outrageous from the officials.
What is the point if VAR exactly? Two strong penalty shouts.
Newcastle set up for anti-football to the point where they have players not on the pitch being booked.
Yet the narrative I have to listen to is that they should be proud of their performance?!? Is that worth of pride?
Also – fuck Gary Neville.
Agreed except about fucking Gary Neville. No thanks, not even Phil. Ew.
I agree on the second penalty. That was a penalty. Arm away from body, not down by side in a very congested area. Was amazed it wasnt given.
Starting a petition to get Gary Neville banned from commentating on Arsenal games.
Another one then?
Yep.
I let my boy have my ticket tonight, so I watched at home on the telly.
That Manc cunt had me reaching for the mute button just five minutes in.
God I hate that anti Arsenal twat.
Faaaaaaaaak
How the ref gave 5 mins extra time I do not know…
Every single week, every single team feels like they have to overcome the referees. It’s rotten to the core.
Man city have them in their pocket, as did ManUre, with dirty money – notice the issue is a place called Manchester!?!!
Have Newcastle had a negative officiating decision all year? I can’t remember one.
This is a big loss.
We drew mate.
Just saying. 🙄
Felt like a big loss last night.
Now I’ve woken up… Yeah!
Imagine being 8 points clear and feeling disappointed 😂 interesting new feeling. Tough against the best defence in the league. Need for reinforcements highlighted. Worrying that there is no one who can come off the bench, particularly in central midfield and up front. We’’re not rotating or even using all subs which is putting a real load on the starting 11.
Totally agree. Today I guess the prospect of a break for most (all?) the first 11 against Oxford would play a factor, but still we had very little on the bench capable of providing a spark/change of dynamic. Their bench seemed stronger than ours.
We don’t have subs up front and barely in the midfield
Most of the squad has just had 6 weeks off! Most of those who went to the world cup came back early.
I thought we were great. Partey is so good! Shout out to Eddie who was everywhere.
One of the most enfuriating performance from a Ref that I’ve ever seen. The game went out of controll because of him, whole stadium shouting at him and even Newcastle players weren’t happy
When it comes to manhandling and acting against systematic transgressions, the ref did a horrible job tonight.
It definitely was a hard game to ref but he just wasn’t up for it, sadly.
He was poor, but his performance had nothing on the one by the ref in the Southampton game
I suspect it will be another VAR blunder that will be admitted by the idiots in charge, as they did with regards GMs wrongly ruled out goal, and cost us another few points!!! Incredible to think we could/should be a further 3 to 5 points better off lol shows how good arsenal are performing!!!
The way those Newcastle fans were screaming you’d think someone had mentioned sportwashing
😂
or free drinks- goodness how many of them were topless and howling at every single instance of their players wasting time… even the subs and coaches got in on it!
The way those Newcastle fans were screaming you’d think someone had mentioned washing.
I hope they all choke on their next million Melton Mowbrays.
😂😂😂😂😂
Rubbish game.
Newcastle came for the draw and got it. But we were pretty dreadful too: none of the front players covered himself in glory. It’s a shame we had nobody to come off the bench and change things.
Referee awful and almost lost control of the game.
A point is better than nothing, I suppose.
Good to see Fatgooner back to form with his negativity about Arsenal. I agree about the appalling referee but to say we were dreadful is just plain toxicity. 🫣
H\e reminds me of Gelion in the guardian comments section, nothing is ever good about arsenal, makes you wonder if they actually support the team
Exactly!
Maybe dreadful compared to a very high bar set recently. I thought MØ was a bit off his best. But there is a reason Newcastle have gone so long without conceding a goal, and ref totally didn’t help matters
almost lost control? the only thing that kept it 11 v 12 (this is not a typo) was the halftime whistle stopping him.
Dreadful?!
No we were not.
Yes, there must be viable options (at least two attackers in this case) from the bench in these type of games, if you’re serious about competing for the title.
Hurry up those Felix and Mudryk deals, will ya!
Nice of the ref to let Newcastle drive the team coach right onto the pitch. Saudi money goes a long way in greater manchester
such a difficult game, newcastle played as ugly as their supporters are. Partey immense, Zinchenko too in the second. fine margins..
pity we didn’t break the record at Ashburton, but equally we could have lost with a single slip in concentration. got to congratulate the lads for their focus throughout.
fucking pity none of our chances went in, especially that late one of Eddie’s.
I thought Zinchenko played much too slow. Obviously most disagree, but he didnt attempt as many passes as I thought he should and did not get the ball to Martinelli as early as he should.
You do get frustrating games like this during the season and Looked like they were playing for corners.Where was was Odegaard tonight? Great talent but he doesn’t like a battle.
odegaard was surrounded by three public transit workers every time he got the ball.
We’re not gonna win every match.
Didn’t create enough and not enough on the bench.
Fuck off about penalty shouts.
It’s OK, we go again….hopefully with serious reinforcements 🔥
You dont think Gabriel being grabbed then dragged down by his shirt was a penalty?
I think he is frustrated about the calls that were not given.
This draw sucks. Newcastle sucks.
But we most definitely missed options from the bench tonight. Imagine ESR for Granit for a more dynamic transition or a certain Mudryk for either Saka or Martinelli.
Maybe we could also try and put Zinchenko into CM and bring on KT to enable some more punch on the wings.
Onward to the next one!
I hope we see ESR next Monday to get some minutes in.
That ref was just horrible- started fine and then behaved like he had to even things up and completely lost control when the cards started coming out for our players after one offense identical to one he had just let go. Pgmol are either incompetent or corrupt… how was Dan burn not sent off for three bookable offenses in one corner kick?
I don’t get how Eddie gets booked for a slight tug on Schar’s shirt yet Burn plows straight through the back of Eddie while doing his best Bambi on Ice impression tracking back & the ref just gives the free kick. All we want from officials is consistency & we don’t mean consistently shit!
Hanlon’s razor is an adage or rule of thumb that states “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
However, PGMOL frequently demonstrate these two options are not mutually exclusive ☹️
Not the end of the world, but disappointing nevertheless. While it was unlikely to be the “revenge goal fest” for us that some Gooners were forecasting (Newcastle have lost only once this season and have played many drawn games after all), I thought we would win a tight game – but there we are.
It’s nothing if not a very gentle reminder that there is a long way to go yet. Of course, it’s far better to be where we are than anywhere else in the PL but there are no guarantees at this stage of the season.
95th minute handball, and VAR did not even take any time to properly review the incident. You would think Newcastle has been bought by Saudi oil money and is giving away Christmas gifts in brown paper bags for PGMOL. At least take the time to make the right call, the technology is already there. Premier League is the best league in the world and we still see things like this? Having a laugh.
Clear pen for me. People go on about Gabriel vs Liverpool pen, but there, the ball clearly takes a deflection off the chest and when it hits the hand, it isn’t on target. Manure vs Sociedad, takes a deflection, hits martinez hand, and IS on target, so it’s a pen. Tonight, clear pen. Var is realyl rubbnish.
the technology in this instance is actually fine, its the idiots using it that are the problem. refs on VAR are more likely to just confirm their colleague’s decision on the pitch than overturn it- because they might be in the same situation the following week. we can’t have these supposedly professional refs for the best league in the world looking sheepish or facing repercussions when they make awful decisions, now can we? and they wonder why refs are consistently abused. if the refs came out and said ‘hey i made a mistake’ maybe they’d be taken more seriously and… Read more »
Gabriel was also clearly pushed when contesting a header from Odegaard’s freekick. But VAR of course pretended to be blind. PGMOL is a blind organization run by blind scum.
I bet if you described the incident to a blind person they would actually get to the right decision!
at least four incidents the moron commentary team on american broadcast had (proudfoot the hobbit name guy and jim “i’m less repetitive on the computer game” beglin) mentioned- and the only one that was reviewed was dan burn fouling his own player as he pulled gabriel over by the shirt.
you’d have thought newcastle won the champions league with these idiots on television
Jarred Gillett was on VAR, he has always hated Arsenal.
Certainly not the best a man can get.
Gillett was the 4th official, Attwell was the VAR, which fucking explains a lot!
Ah my bad.
Ben White looked off the pace today. Hope he isn’t carrying an injury. Extremely frustrating game.
sidenote: Eddie with confidence is a really good player isnt he?
Listen, Nketiah is a top lad and player but in games like this we simply need a world class striker to get us that winning goal.
He was fine.
My point exactly
our best player in the final third of the field today, please leave the guy alone
I really don’t think anyone understood the original comment…
Appreciate the sentiment but he wasn’t better than Saka
nketiah scores if botman isn’t holding his waistband the whole game
We have a world class striker, he’s just injured. Eddie is backup and has so far acquitted himself pretty well.
The main problem we have is lack of depth and attacking players who can come off the bench and win games. Over to you Edu.
How wasn’t that a handball??
Same as against man u, we were the better team but failed to take our chances, we also had a stonewall penalty when Gabriel was dragged by his shirt and the 2′ and 5′ injury time in each half is a joke. Still, 8 points clear and we move on.
Proud of the team.
PS….we urgently need at least one quality reinforcement up top
Fat Allardyce frustrates and parks the bus.
Don’t mind a point at home against a top three side and sometimes you will lose points but that was a joke of a ref. The shirt pull on Gabriel is as clear as day and is a penalty. Minutes earlier they hade a Var check when one of their Stoke orchs fouled his way through our penalty area…
What a dirty team Newcastle are. Can’t stand them and there’s nothing genius about Howes Pulis management. They are just dirty.
Worst thing is, that wasnt even checked by VAR….or if it was, it was done just as a box ticking exercise
Frustrating game, but I’m not too worried after how we handled their physicality and prick behavior. I’m not making excuses, but I strongly believe that if it wasn’t for the rain making the pitch a bit more difficult to play on, we could have easily won. We had so many situations at the beginning of both halves that could have been easy goals on any other occasion, except today where the final pass or touch was just a tad bit off, enough to allow Newcastle defenders to recover. On to the next one!
The bench needs some depth. We have good players but none good enough to replace or add anything extra to the starting 11. Viera needs time. ESR is missing. Thats abt it in attackers. We’re doing very well. It’s a good point no matter how you look at things. COYG
That lot are the new Sp*rs…. parking the bus and waiting for a mistake and/or a referee gift….
Anyway, good to be disgusted, that says a lot about our level and expectations. Last year we might have lost this type of game, so let’s move on.
Looking forward to Jan 15th. COYG!!
Parked the bus and got what they wanted. Didn’t realise Twatier was a referee, never off his shoulder, probably explain some way to how the ref lost the plot. 5 minutes really never seen so much time wasted players going down with nothing wrong with them and 50/50 pen call at the end referee so in love with his whistle did not oblige us. We got sucked in and a lesson to learn there. Also was looking at the bench and thinking who to bring on. Do need a bit of strengthening up with our squad. Still top of the… Read more »
The last sentence from the article is the main point of our current situation. Our substitutes in attack were Vieira, Marquinhos and Butler-Oyedeji. It is clear to everyone about Marquinhos, but this shows that Vieira is not ready for such physical matches and probably never will be. We need two reinforcements up front and one in the middle of the field. Unfortunately, we cannot rely on ESR.
“probably never will be” is a massively pessimistic overreaction.
The only position we need reinforcement for is Thomas Partey, and I say that as a big fan of both Elneny and Sambi Lokonga.
Apart from stopping the ball with a hand at the end, Newcastle deserved a point. They are seriously dull though.
Newcastle were shit and deserved nothing. They employed every spoiling tactic in the book; fouling, going to ground, time wasting, play acting, arguing, the fucking works. The trouble was that we moved the ball so painfully slowly that they were always able to stick three men on each of our front men whenever they (eventually) received the ball. We seriously need to move the ball a lot quicker, especially when the opposition play as high a press as Newcastle did. Even doubling up on wall passes would have helped – just move it quicker!! Hopefully some lessons will have been… Read more »
Honestly, they aren’t a bad team. And given the way we’ve been playing, teams will be defensive when they come to the Emirates. We need to be able to beat that too. Definitely need another goal threat up front. Need to be able have someone that can change things up at 60-75 min when we’re in these situations.
And I don’t have a lot positive to say about FIFA, but the additional injury time minutes at the WC were a good thing. It’s probably the only way we’ll get a change from all the timewasting.
Put it this way, if the Barcodes want to catch us, then they had to beat us. They didn’t. Brighton went to Everton and hammered them 4-1. The same Brighton who were well beaten 4-2 by us, the same Everton who got a draw at Moneychester City, who have to visit Chelsea in this round of fixtures. We could end up further ahead.
The Gunners were good tonight just missing some luck like the penalty. No wonder Mikel was frustrated as we all were too. Bloody Geordies 🤔
This game proved beyond all doubts that our trophy hinges on the strength of our bench.
I believe we would have won today’s match if we had players on the bench. Sadly we only had bodies, and Arteta could little really.
So, the Kronkes better bring out the cheque book and get Arteta his two attackers! Without a strong bench, let’s hope last season’s misery is not repeated.
COYG!
Incompetent refereeing. I’m telling you I saw Mike Dean somewhere
We bossed the game. Eddie was everywhere, Partey is from another world. We didn’t score in this game (for the first time in the Prem this season) we are going to win the league.
Sorry lads, Blame this one on me. Every match I’m always negative and think we’re gonna lose. Tonight I was so confident I even stuck a tenner on us to win by 3. I’ll go back to being pessimistic next match I promise.
Saka is like a tow truck, the way players hold him and he literally still runs while carrying them on his back. Lol
I hate Almiron smiles
It was a difficult game, they were well organised and obstructive but physically we still run them to the ground. we were slow in the build up and not sharp enough in the final third. We need more depth in the squad to stay up top.
These kind of games happen. Great attitude and clean sheet. Go again!!!
Thank fuck we don’t have to play those cheating, dirty, fat boy cunts every week. Newcastle’s high press meant we had to move the ball a lot quicker than we did. At times it was painfully slow and when Ramsdale’s pass nearly resulted in a goal for them, that should have been a wake up call – but sadly it wasn’t. That said, were clearly robbed of a penalty at the death. They couldn’t even be bothered to check it. Don’t anyone try and tell me VAR isn’t biased against us. There are lessons that need to be learned from… Read more »
Well, I think we can all see why Newcastle haven’t threatened the net in Islington since 2014! All that blood money & they still decide to come along & play like Stoke. Ref had a shocker, Rob Jones probably congratulated him in the WhatsApp group at full time. Can see our need for another striker though, think Jesus would’ve relished that, chance to get stuck in & put himself about a bit
Fuck Magpies Forever, dirty, cheaty, timewasting cunts, and their fat manager. If the referee did his job properly we would’ve won that, how the hell was that not a penalty pulling Big Gabi over in the box? And that handball? The team tried hard, we didn’t lose, we’re still top of the league, we go again.
We were just slightly off today going forward. Definitely miss Jesus (not having a go at Eddie at all here) but his close control and dribbling in tight areas is so useful in these games. I really hope we bring in Mudryk AND Felix. If we can get Felix at a reasonable loan price then why not. I don’t think he is an option permanently, but it is not often a player of his quality is available in a Jan window, along with us being top of the league, if it ever makes sense, it probably does now, taking into… Read more »