Result: Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 11 August 2019
Venue: St James Park
Starting XI: Leno; Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Sokratis, Monreal; Guendouzi, Xhaka, Willock, Mkhitaryan, Nelson; Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, David Luiz, Torreira, Ceballos, Pepe, Martinelli, Lacazette
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened his account for the season as Arsenal produced a disciplined performance to beat Newcastle United 1-0 at St James’ Park in our opening game of the new Premier League campaign.
The Gabon international’s tidy finish on 58 minutes was a moment of real quality in a game that was scrappy for long periods, not that it will bother Unai Emery whose side kept a clean sheet and took home the three points with a minimum of fuss.
First Half
A very low-key first half, played out in blustery and wet conditions, was marked by familiar flaws and glimpses of hope for the future.
Xhaka’s passing, so often our undoing in the recent past, was pretty wayward. On three occasions his attempts to move the ball quickly out of defence saw him find a Newcastle player which left us exposed. Thankfully, Monreal, Sokratis and Chambers all looked pretty sharp despite the efforts of Almiron and Joelinton. Alongside the Swiss, Guendouzi was much tidier although the Frenchman tends to be far less ambitious when he’s in possession.
On the right of midfield, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, selected over Nicolas Pepe who is still building his way up to full fitness, delivered another of his customary erratic performances. The Armenian was full of running and often found himself in decent positions but his decision making and final pass were repeatedly poor. He had a decent chance to put us in the lead on 23 minutes after Monreal found him with a cutback but he lashed over the bar.
Joe Willock ended the half with a 64% completion rate, but his energy was a real positive. He made a couple of great challenges in the centre of the park and was also desperate to push forward with lung-busting runs. Reiss Nelson found it tough to find space but by the end of the half he was linking up nicely with Monreal off the left flank.
Chances were few and far between for both sides. Joelinton bustled space to shoot straight at Leno and the German could only watch as Shelvey hammered against the post from the edge of the box. In a five minute flurry of home side pressure, Almiron was correctly booked for diving as he took a tumble seeking contact with Granit Xhaka.
At the other end, Aubameyang forced a save from Dubravka with a fierce shot on the diagonal having found space behind the defence. It was our only attempt of the half on target.
Second Half
We looked far more urgent after the break. On 52 minutes a brilliant dart down the left channel by Aubameyang ended with his shot getting deflected over the bar. From the resulting corner, Xhaka’s flicked headed whipped just past Willock’s outstretched foot and the post.
Six minutes later, our pressure finally told. Brilliant work by Ainsley Maitland-Niles saw our right-back pickpocket the ball on the halfway line, burst forward and then pick out Auba with a brilliant cross. The striker, who’d done well to time his run, took one touch and dinked the ball over the keeper. It was his 33rd goal in 50 Premier League appearances; an amazing record. (1-0)
Having resisted the temptation to make half-time changes, Emery finally looked to his very strong bench for reinforcements. Ceballos came on for Willock and took up a central position and six minutes later Pepe replaced Nelson. Mkhitaryan shifted to the left so he could go right.
Newcastle’s introduction of Saint-Maximin briefly brought the home fans to their feet, but aside from leaving one on Xhaka’s ankle, we coped with the Frenchman’s presence. For a ground feted for its atmosphere, St James’ Park was strangely quiet although Xhaka did bring out a roar for a foul of his own. He went in the book.
For long swathes of the second period, the game was very scrappy. It was only in the final 10 minutes as legs got tired that space appeared. Leno got down to his right to deny Saint-Maximin, Pepe probed, Martinelli came on for his debut in place of Mkhitaryan and Schar pelted over the bar from 35-yards.
Credit to our mix-and-match defence holding firm in the final minutes to pick up a clean sheet. We had to wait until April to do that away from home last season. So it’s three very welcome points and a week to prepare for the visit of Burnley. 2019/20 is off to a solid start.
Clean sheet away from home? Is that allowed now?
All the intensity of an Aaron Ramsey presented documentary on the various types of sediment found in provincial estuaries.
With a special guest appearance by Michael Owen.
Best comment I’ve seen on this site.
You may jest, but that sediment composition is key to the entire estuarial food chain, and as such is vital to the ecological richness of provincial lands. What would we do without that beauty for our future generations?
Aaron? Is that you? We miss you x
IT’S RAUL SANLLEHI ERA WE DO WHAT WE WANT
Defending: for best results do not use Mustafi
Thought Chambers was solid actually. Encouraging.
I was also more than impressed with AMN!
Has he been doing speed work, or are the Geordies just a bit slow?
He and Sok were quietly very impressive. I think Chambers led for clearances completed too, I keep telling you guys you’ve all been sleeping on this boy for too long.
Most underrated Arsenal player I’ve known (followed by Iwobi)
Agree on first. Second – not so much!
Feel free mate, my man’s gonna prove you wrong in time!
Liverpool, conceded.
Man City, conceded.
Arsenal, clean sheet.
Clearly we are the team to beat! 😉
Man €ity didn’t concede.
you’re right, I’m just in dreamland after Arsenal not conceding in an away game matching the whole of last seasons tally!
City didn’t concede.
That was a piss poor performance. At least offensively.
Does not fill me with confidence.
Buddy, a first match of the season, away from home, with a team with a new manager that clearly did not want to start his tenure with a loss. I am chuffed with the win, we will play better, new players will (play) gel with the team.. Come on!
I am very worried that an away win has become a very special thing for our fans.
We just won a game and you’re worried that people enjoyed the result?
I don’t even know why some of you watch this sport
“…has become a very special thing for our fans”, do you take the time to read? Do you know about the very big team you support that used to trash so many teams away from home?
Been a supporter since the George Graham era. Coming up on 30 years now.
If you know anything about this club, you should know Gooners are allowed to take pride in a 1-0 win
Now if we get to see Harry Maguire fall on his arse and Chelsea score as a result of it, it will be the perfect Sunday
He must be so imbalanced, his head must weigh heavier than the rest of his body.
The only reason I see him stand still is because of his head being totally empty inside, balancing the weight.
If at all it had an organ called a brain inside…
Nope, a draw between Chelsea and United is what we need.
I know they weren’t massively tested but that was one of the most sensible and mature performances by an Arsenal centre back pairing in a long time. No ball win attempts into midfield leaving massive gaps behind, panicking on the ball, or losing their man on crosses Not saying they’re world class or anything but just calm and competent, it was really nice to watch. Just proves what a load of nonsense Mustafi’s ‘impressive’ tackles and interceptions stats are. AMN was great, but I really hope Monreal doesn’t start many more games in the league. He seemed so slow I… Read more »
“Couldn’t contribute going forward much”
Literally contributed the assist for the goal
I said Maitland Niles was great, but Monreal looked off the pace. Read it again
Apologies, somehow misread it as “hope he doesn’t start many more games” – brain fade! Please forgive my inattention
AMN got the assist. Public Elneny was saying Monreal was slow and barely got forward, which is particularly true in the 2nd half
Think he was talking about Monreal mate
I think he refers to Monreal. ANM provided the assist.
Give a break to a guy who has to move his family elsewhere. Mustafi causes a lot of errors. This is very bad for defenders and goalkeepers but if you consider other aspects of defending he is not bad at all. He even scores four goals perhaps the same number of goals strictly caused by him.
When we defend in a noticeably different way to previously, and it’s clearly more effective, it’s next impossible not to reflect on why the previous approach was worse. Sokratis and Chambers deserve praise for playing in a calm and disciplined way today – criticising Mustafi’s recklessness is a necessary flipside to that praise. I mean yeah I get what you’re saying. I don’t envy footballing families lacking control on something as basic as where they live on a year to year basis, but it’s a necessary part of the sport functioning. There’s next to no chance that any players read… Read more »
I thought Nacho had a good game defensively. He hasn’t got the legs to get forward too much but he was solid for us and was clearing up and making good forward passes. Personally I’m happy to see him start, and he still has a lot to offer. He won’t be our first choice later in the season but he always gives his best for us.
Someone down voted this?
Good result. Considering the number of regulars missing, a good performance.
The youngsters did well. AMN put in a decent shift at RB.
Three points and same number of points as City and Liverpool. Good performance ? Not at all. We played at 1-0 up like we were 4-0.
Pepe looks tasty. His control over the ball is just sublime.
Yeah didn’t do much, but everything he did was kinda saucy. I’m into it
I was expecting this. You are so anxious to see what Pepe is all about that you have to make it up. We all have the entire season to enjoy it.
Ceballos at the end, blocking the goal kick to the keeper – haha
Then pointing to his imaginary watch and shrugging his shoulders at the ref. Love him already!
Quality shithousery.
Busquetty!
Real Madrid DNA.
A comfortable away win and clean sheet on the first day of the season, can’t ask for any more than that.
Not sure how comfortable it was. Glad we won, but we looked pretty average, IMO. Taking 8 shots with the majority of possession is just not good enough. The three teams who are comprehensively better than Arsenal – Liverpool, City, and, yes, Spurs – one thing they all have in common is that if an opponent sits back and concedes possession, those teams rip shots all fucking game long, 20-30 shots, they don’t try to score the perfect goal. And it works (Kane’s shitty first goal yesterday, the result of a deflected shot). We need to shoot the ball, FFS.
Those teams are between three and six years into a settled project. This is our second year and we just had a big revamp of the squad. Give it time.
It’s the first game of the season in a team that has seen quite a bit of change in the attacking positions – some from new signings, some from enforced absences. Of course it’s going to be disjointed.
To be fair, of the starters, only Leno, Auba and probably Sokratis would be in our ideal starting XI. We were even missing a couple of B-team players like Kolasinac and Ozil
This was basically the sort of team we’d normally put out in the early stages of a cup, so to win away in the league was pretty good (especially considering our recent opening day results!).
Look we had Mikitakeran that’s why! He was absolutely pants in the first half. The shots and pressure will come with Pepe on the wing and Lacca behind Auba but Mik should be no where near the bench let alone the pitch. Get rid, he’s a liability. That chance he had in the first half should have opened the account for us and made this game a whole lot easier to watch. At least get it on target you muppet. He could not provide the link between the midfield and Auba because he kept giving the ball away or trying… Read more »
5-0 would have been nice but given our depleted team and away form over the last 2 seasons I’m happy
Wouldn’t call that win comfortable. Newcastle asked us a couple of questions
Perhaps ‘bearable’ is more suitable? I wasn’t comfortable watching it, but it was bearable.
Comfortable? I know we need to be positive about the team.
Away win, away clean sheet, job done!
Great start – clean sheet away in the first game of the season? great job Arsenal!
Good thing Newcastle are shit because we weren’t all that.
Other than that, glad the real football season is back!
And I’m of course happy for the three points and the clean sheet.
A win is a win… Nice start to the new season.
Great win! Nice to see Freddie there, Edu also. I like how I feel assured when the ball is coming back to Leno. I guess the new boys will need some time. COYG!
Pleased with a first win. Thought Auba and AMN were both excellent. Wish we would stop knocking it about at the back so much though, I always have my heart in my mouth when that happens.
Yea mate let’s just hoof it… That’s the Arsenal way!
Ah, a mixed bag that one, too many sloppy moments but quite a few promising ones too. Given the lineup wasn’t a particularly strong one, I’d say a decent result. Onwards and upwards now.
P.S. Was it just me or did Unai resemble a Sith Lord in that hoody?
An away win and clean sheet, a solid start to the season.
Rubbish game but a good result. Nice to keep a clean sheet away from home: we were surprisingly good at the back. Emery gambled with the selection and won.
A good Sunday afternoon.
Good to see you in good spirits mate.
Even Fatgooner is happy.. give the boys a break man… its a good Sunday.
C’mon mkhi you can do better than that! Away cleansheet though, and a glimpse of our newcomers, I’ll take it! COYG
Yes it was far from his best match, but I think Emery rate his work ethic very highly. Sometimes it’s his day sometimes it is not, but Mkhi is working.
I like that!
Ainsley was terrific. Auba the difference once more. Really liked Ceballos when he came on. Plenty of first XI players absent and 3 points from a difficult away game at the first game of the season, can’t ask for more.
After that game AMN will give Hector a run for his money!
It’s not his preferred position so I’d like to see how he does in the middle
Ceballos? Gave the ball away a countless number of… oh sorry, yes, he was out of this world.
Clearly the moment got the better of our new players when they came on I’m thinking Ceballos and Pepe but they got over the “moment” after 10 minutes or so.
I like the way Ceballos tries to play football, didn’t say he was out of this world in his small cameo. He will be very important for us!
Alex has to fight any player he sees as competition to Ozil.
Good performance, clean sheet, good win. I still don’t understand how Xhaka is in that team. Poor passing and gives away the most ridiculous, needless fouls. He is a liability in my opinion.
Almiron is a diving cunt glad we never signed him. Solid win, I thought AMN was excellent as well. He looks like he’s got something to prove
He looks like a teenage mutant ninja turtle.
He really looks like a creepy turtle/sea bream. Terrible dive.
I won’t talk about the performance considering the fact that more than half the real team we expect to start didn’t start today.
Right now, 3 pts is all that matters!
Thought we deserved a couple of our yellows……… but I can’t even begin to understand how they got none
To be fair, the diving piece of shit Almiron did get one. Otherwise, you are right
I noticed it is now ok to throttle an opponent with his own shirt and that will cost you only a foul. New rule?
Isn’t just me or is Mkhitaryan shit?
He did ok. Made himself available for passes, but his touch and final ball were off
Not being able to pass, control the ball or ever beat his man equals “ok”? Oh and that sitter he scuffed as well. He was abysmal.
Not shit. But a player with obvious talent and once being very very good now that years has gone by being very very average
It seems psychologically he is done. You watch his Dortmund highlights and he was deadly down the wings. Now he cant complete a pass most of the time. His failure to adapt at United might have wrecked his confidence because hes been terrible for years now. Not ok, not decent. Terrible.
Because he now plays in the Premiership!
Goes from good to ridiculously poor several times a match. Very surprised he’s still in contention.
Pretty shit but at least he tries to be direct at times. Xhaka on the other hand hardly ever passes the ball forward and for the life of me I can’t figure out exactly what his role in the team is meant to be. Guendozi is shit hot. Willock and Nelson showed that they have the potential to make it with us and Maitland-Niles looks like he’s progressed since last season. Overall we were a bit scrappy at times but we got the result which is the most important thing. I feel that there’s reason to be optimistic so I’ll… Read more »
Crap game. Great result.
We did it and the players playing at the end of the game looked frightening for away defences in the future. COYG!
Almiron is literally that little kid in the Inbetweeners movie who pulls Jay’s shorts down ‘eh Manchester!’
Couldn’t ask for more considering the squad available. 3 points away from home and a clean sheet seems like a mirage. AMN looks sharp. Guendouzi, mhki, Xhaka and Chambers looked suspect. Wonderful afternoon!
Assume that Miguel Almiron has replaced Kieron Trippier on the list of “Most Punchable Premier League Faces”??
Eric Dyer has a far more punchable face than Kieron Trippier (who just looks like a super-chav) as far as I’m concerned.
3 points & away clean sheet on the season opener… good job!
Miki and Xhaka were close to be awfull during the full game, but apart from that, a good afternoon. Hats off to Guendouzi’s defensive support
Thought Luiz should’ve started but Calum Chambers repaid the coach for backing him. MOTM for me
Lot of young players in the team, all performed well
Chambers + Papa looks alright
Solid performance. Chambers and Papa did well, even though there were still some very uncomfortable moments.
I’m not a fan of the mandatory playing out from the back. It seemed comical sometimes to see players completely static in their designated positions, waiting for Leno to kick the ball to them. Even an amateur team could press easily press us into errors.
Nelson wasn’t too shabby. Ceballos and Pepe will need time to adapt to the pace and lack of space in the EPL
I really liked Martinelli when he was introduced. COYG and on to the next game: Home VS Ashley Barnes’ Burnley
Xhaka was does either of the two things
Either pass the ball to the opposition player or take 3-4 touches in transition which slows us as tortoise. Seriously unbearable to watch.
Passing is meant to be his strength but most of the time he can’t do a simple pass 5 yards to his left
or pass a great through ball to Auba.
I counted three top class long balls today. Especially the last one for Auba. I didn’t see anyone else doing that for us today.
Exactly. But it’s useless arguing… people see only what they want to see. They’ve decided Granit is bad so he has to be bad. This forum can be toxic this way…
It’s not worth it. Everything else about his game is shocking. You cant have one quality and 5 liabilities. Its costs us points all season long.
You Xhaka stans are hilarious; dude wouldn’t make the bench at, for example, Tottenham, who signed a player exponentially better than Xhaka to play his role: Ndombele. In the same way you think people are unfairly hard on Xhaka, you guys are grasping at straws to justify him. Arsenal have declined and slumped to Thursday night football since he arrived, it’s not a coincidence. He’d be a decent player for West Ham at best. I don’t even think Wolves, Foxes, or Everton would consider that guy. And fans have earned the right to be weary of him by now, because… Read more »
This! Decent player but sadly just not good enough. That summer transfer window must be the worst in history. 90M on Xhaka, Mustafi and Perez. Just shockingly bad
Thank you Arsenal. Perfect birthday present.
Martinelli already looking buff
I fancy he will be this season’s Guendouzi
Agreed. I have him in my Fantasy team, just on the bench. 🙂
I thought Guendouzi was excellent and didn’t put a foot wrong. Well played Sir!
Apart from the last free-kick, i felt pretty relaxed about the game. Not a feeling i am particular familiar with when watching the Arsenal.. Mature performance in the 2nd half, didn’t do too much going forward, but never let newcastle build any rhythm and send their supporters to sleep. Really solid start and especially promising considering we have a lot of strong players yet to play
An away win is always welcome at St James Park.
Not an easy place to go and play later on the season. COYR
Positives:
– Auba looks very very sharp
– Guendouzi, Willock and Ceballos looked good at CM
– Reiss decent
– AMN storming game at RB
Negatives:
– No fluidity going forward
– Until Ceballos came on we didn’t have proper link up between midfield and attack
– Mkhitaryan
Good point about Ceballos. Really since Cazorla we haven’t had a proper link up midfielder who comes from deep. I think he was nervous but he could be transformative if he gains Emery’s confidence. This type of player is key with the speed we have up top. Otherwise its Xhaka in space with no pressure lining up a through ball for 6 seconds and then passing into Fernandinho ‘s shins.
Away win, clean sheet, no injuries and a run out for some new sighnings. Also a decent away kit not that horrible Puma green job. All good!
Xhaka watched that the clock had ticked 80 and felt he had not yet received his customary yellow card
In fairness he got a few kicks so he wanted to give back atleast one.
Willock and Nelson, very impressive. Miki and Xhaka were crap!
This relentless negative focus on Xhaka is getting tiresome. His “wayward” passing created two opportunities out of nothing. He touches a lot of balls, a few mistakes are bound to happen. Other players make them too. Why keep focusing on the negative? I mean, AMN gave away possession on two throw-ins (throws-ins!) in the first half, yet those are not even mentioned – and rightly so, I’d rather hear about his splendid assist. Granit had a fairly good game, made recoveries, was involved. What’s funny is that Auba’s “brilliant dart down the left channel” was from a Xhaka pass, yet… Read more »
I think you aren’t being fair. While we should allow for occasional errors, we have to be critical when we are talking about the midfield engine for a top 4 team in the best league on the planet. His glacial passing, constant mishit passes and slowness and confusion defensively are often the critical difference and weakness when we play against the best. You need a top class, solid, player in that position more than almost any on the pitch. One who is not mistake prone. Lofting a good pass against a non pressing opponent after taking six lazy touches is… Read more »
“Lofting a good pass against a non pressing opponent after taking six lazy touches”… not the case today. I agree he’s sometimes slow but watch the movements of the other players… they’re often not helping. Also, the fact that you say Pjanic doesn’t get criticised tells me you don’t watch/follow a lot of Italian football, or you’d know better. In the end, you’re entitled to your opinion. I am merely suggesting that this “Xhaka hate” will not do the club any good. We’ve seen it happen at Arsenal too many times before. The guy had to close off his IG… Read more »
I think calling it “Xhaka hate” is a cute way of making the perfectly rational criticism here seem as irrational as the online abuse all players face.
No-one here is @ing Xhaka. There’s no need to lump it all altogether.
Yeah I don’t watch the Italian league, I just picked three generally reputable players, but fair play if I’m wrong. But I think you knew what my point was, but ok you proved I dont know what I’m talking about I guess…I dont know how you think positive or negative comments on a fan site that surely no Arsenal players read has the ability to “do the club any good” in the first place? Isnt this a place for fans to have open discourse? To discuss the performances and the club in general? No personal attacks were made so your… Read more »
“He touches a lot of balls” – some players have strange pre-game rituals.
If he does ten good things in a game and maybe one or two mistakes , most fans who watch the team regularly will not harp on the mistake. Everyone understands that no player will have flawless games all the time. With Xhaka , if you’ve watched him consistently over a period of time, it’s the opposite. There is one moment of brilliance , a 40 yard screamer or a beautifully weighted lob and ten silly give aways. You cannot have someone like that in a central position , especially with our troubles in central defensive positions. You can count… Read more »
Newcastle are terrible
We missed a lot of the regular starters so I think we can be happy. The assist from AMN ist priceless, you could really see the confidence boost. Also liked Chambers, Nelson and Monreal today.
Monreal had a great game, looked like the Monreal of 2 years ago
If we don’t overplay him he could still be good for us
Fair play to Mhiki. His first half was not good other than one pass to Aubameyang. But he grew into the match and we were more disjointed when he went off.
Ceballos looked like his shoes were two sizes to big!
But a clean sheet on the road!
Was excited to see such a young lineup with five players with two 19 yr olds, a 20 yr old, a 21 yr old and a 24 yr old all starting (and an 18 yr old, a 23 yr old and 24 yr old coming in as subs). Never would have seen that under Wenger and glad so many are getting a chance this year. Not the cleanest of games, but considering the nasty weather and it being the first thought all in all we looked pretty good. Some wayward passes by the veterans (Xhaka and Miki), but all of… Read more »
i’m not sure i agree about your wenger comment. he was notorious for giving youngsters their chances.
Under Wenger we consistently had the youngest average team in the league after the invincible season.
Good result, wasn’t are best performance but three points, no goals conceded and new boys got a good run out. Plenty to be positive about
Xhaka and Miki were both shocking. It really is the difference, no other top 4 side would have to tolerate these types of players, constantly misplacing passes and looking completely out of sorts. These guys will cost us vital scoring chances and give away possession to much more ruthless teams than Newcastle. The sooner we relegate them to the bench, the better. I’m tired of being patient with them. The verdict is in and no one can deny it.
Thank you. I almost didn’t want to watch when I saw them both starting. Wouldn’t come close to first team for any other big side. They slow us down, misplace too many passes, and Xhaka is too cardy.
Big ups Nelson, thought he was stand out in the first half, willock not far behind, especially surprised by willocks strength, would like to see them both start with Pepe and Cebellos next time please Mr Emery. Xhaka stand out 2nd half, and both cbs were solid, AMN shakey early on but really grew into it, guen was stefani, Mon was real, auba’s finish was not easy, respect. Mkhi uppy downy, Leno bueno. Pepe’s dumby on the byline.
Two rather toothless teams, Newcastle even more so than Arsenal. The goal was brilliant, however, and as during the last seasons, you wonder why they don’t do that 3-4 times and put the game away?
Maybe one could even spot signs of defensive training: Chambers follows the man rather than the ball, as Mustafi tends to. Matland-Niles is closer to their wingers. The midfield was rather good at coming home to help out defensively. They still give the opposition too much space, and a sharper team then Newcastle will exploit that.
We got the three points and that was the main thing.
.
QI think we have to admit it was a pretty underwhelming performance overall. That said, Emery did give several youngsters an early chance along with a run out for new players which was good management.
Another plus was that there were no defensive cock-ups, but then Mustafi wasn’t playing, so QED I guess.
All in all, the game gives us something to build on.