Arsenal and Newcastle United players clash
Arsenal and Newcastle United players clash
Newcastle United will have to get the job done on the final day to qualify for the Champions League after the Magpies suffered a 1-0 defeat against Arsenal.
Newcastle found Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya in inspired form in the first half and the Gunners rallied after the break to win the game courtesy of a Declan Rice piledriver in the 55th minute.
Here are five things we learned from the game.
Poor start to second half proves costly
You always knew a response was on the cards. Arsenal bounced back after going into the break 2-0 down at Liverpool last week and, sure enough, the Gunners raised their game following another blast of the hairdryer from Mikel Arteta at half-time against Newcastle.
Newcastle also looked a different side, but not in the same way. Nothing summed up a curiously sloppy start to the second half quite like the Magpies' defending in the build-up to what proved to be Declan Rice's winner.
With two red shirts surrounding him out on the left, Anthony Gordon attempted to dribble back towards his own goal but the forward took a heavy touch and ended up knocking the ball to Bukayo Saka, his England team-mate. Saka skipped away from Gordon, slipped in Martin Odegaard down the left and the Arsenal skipper's pullback was whipped into the net by Declan Rice, who no one bothered to pick up.
Declan Rice puts Arsenal in front against Newcastle United
Arsenal ultimately relieved but Newcastle need deeper squad
Eddie Howe had seen enough. Newcastle's already thin squad had been stretched by injuries to the point where the Newcastle boss named two goalkeepers among his substitutes once again.
However, it did not take Howe long to turn to his bench following Arsenal's opener. In fact, Emil Krafth, Lewis Miley and William Osula were readied just a few minutes after Declan Rice put Arsenal in front as the Magpies switched to a 4-3-3.
Newcastle have recovered 19 points from losing positions this season - only Liverpool and Manchester City have claimed more - but the visitors never truly looked like equalising. Indeed, the closest Newcastle came to drawing level was arguably when substitute Joe Willock fired over against his former club late on.
Newcastle kept pushing, though. It was rather telling that nervy Arsenal fans whistled to urge the referee to blow up while Myles Lewis-Skelly clenched his fist and Jorginho even gave David Raya a double high five following a late scuffle between both sets of players after Mikel Arteta told his side to 'take it personally' after three straight losses against Newcastle.
However, to truly go to the next level, this squad needs greater depth. Arsenal, for instance, had the luxury of introducing, among others, Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho and Kai Havertz from the bench even though the Gunners had absentees of their own.
Riccardo Calafiori and Jakub Kiwior of Arsenal clashes with Dan Burn of Newcastle
David Raya foils Newcastle
There was no doubt about who Arsenal's best player was in the first half: David Raya. Newcastle, in truth, peppered Arsenal's goal in the opening stages.
There were just six minutes on the clock when Raya denied Bruno Guimaraes from inside the box. Harvey Barnes was next to be foiled by Raya on the quarter-hour mark after the Newcastle forward's effort took a deflection off Thomas Partey. Just a minute later, Raya made a jaw-dropping double save to deny both Dan Burn and Sven Botman from a Newcastle corner.
Newcastle ended up being the first side to have five-plus shots on target in the first half of a Premier League game against Arsenal in more than two years. The black-and-whites were the first visiting team to have 10-plus shots in the first half of a top-flight fixture at the Emirates since 2022.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya makes a big save to deny Newcastle United defender Dan Burn
In a game like this, against an opponent like this, Newcastle had to be clinical and the visitors were ultimately made to regret not taking one of those chances - no matter how well Raya played.
Frustration for Callum Wilson
You suspect William Saliba breathed a sigh of relief when the team sheets dropped at 3.15pm. Alexander Isak, the man who has caused the usually composed Arsenal centre-back so many problems this season, was nowhere to be seen.
Isak's absence was a hammer blow for Newcastle after the Sweden star was ruled out with a minor groin issue. Isak may not have looked his menacing self of late, but the striker has an aura and an ability to occupy defenders' minds.
Newcastle do not look quite the same side without him. The trip to Anfield back in February was a case in point and, just like that night, veteran Callum Wilson was handed a rare start in Isak's absence.
Wilson has yet to score in the league this season, but the veteran suggested it was 'written in the stars for me to put one in the back of the net' during the run-in. Frustratingly, for Wilson, this was an evening where the peripheral striker failed to even have a shot and he was ultimately hooked midway through the second half.
Callum Wilson against Arsenal
The race goes down to the wire
Newcastle staff always suspected the race for Champions League qualification would go down to the wire. So it proved. Whatever happens elsewhere, Newcastle know what they have to do to book a place at Europe's top table: beat Everton at St James' Park on the final day in a week's time. You suspect Eddie Howe would have taken that.
"That's where you want it to be," the Newcastle boss told Sky Sports. "You want it to be in your own hands. We back ourselves at home. We back ourselves under pressure. The build-up to the game will be big and we just have to detach ourselves from it and focus on how we need to play, which I'm sure the players will."