We ended our 2024/25 campaign at Emirates Stadium with a 1-0 victory against Newcastle United, with Declan Rice's excellent goal separating the sides.
But what were the other reasons behind our success against a Magpies team sat just behind us in the table? Adrian Clarke has delved into the stats and footage to unearth the keys to our win.
Golden Glove targeted
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Newcastle outplayed us early on in this encounter, causing numerous problems with their 3-4-2-1 formation, speed and movement. Inside the first 18 minutes alone, David Raya was forced into making five fantastic saves, including a pair of trademark double-stops to keep the score at 0-0.
The only full match where he has been forced into making more saves was against Manchester City (9) at the Etihad Stadium, so this was comfortably his busiest spell of the entire campaign.
The pick of the Spaniard’s saves saw him dive low to his left to athletically deny Dan Burn. Showing extraordinary reflexes, he was nothing short of heroic early in the contest.
Repelling a Newcastle United xG tally of 1.86 to preserve his clean sheet, you could see how determined our goalkeeper is to win the Golden Glove for the second year in a row. With one match left to play he is level on 13 alongside Nottingham Forest’s Matz Sels.
Most clean sheets in 2024/25
David Raya
Arsenal
13
Matz Sels
Notts Forest
13
Dean Henderson
Crystal Palace
11
Jordan Pickford
Everton
11
Fixing first-half problems
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For the second week in succession, Mikel Arteta and his players recovered from a shaky start to get something from the game. Early on, the Magpies sliced through our shape too easily, with wing-back Tino Livramento inverting into a high left-sided attacker, and Harvey Barnes dropping into clever pockets to the right of centre.
These positional shifts did pose us problems, as the visitors performed with pace and panache during a terrific first-half display.
This clip below shows how Barnes dropped into pockets between players, when Declan Rice went to press the man on the ball. With Jacob Murphy to look after out wide, Myles Lewis-Skelly couldn’t follow him in, and as the gaps between units were stretched, nobody else could react quickly enough to get tight to Barnes. From this move, he ran 50 yards unopposed before drawing a fine save from Raya:
Thankfully we came out for the second half with renewed purpose, squeezing up in a more coordinated way to congest space between the lines. This improved compactness prevented the game from being stretched as often as it had been.
We also took ownership of the ball, pinning Newcastle back at the start of the second period. This Action Areas map from the 46th to 60th minute shows we enjoyed strong territorial dominance and 81% of possession.
**Action Areas/Possession: 45-60 Minutes**
After we took the lead through Rice in the 55th minute, we managed the game in a different way, playing in a more cautious, defensive manner. From the hour mark until the end of this match, we averaged just a 27% share of the ball, protecting our lead from a position of strength.
This also helped us shrink the space for the Magpies to use their pace to trouble us.
Kiwior a colossus
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Since coming into the starting XI for Gabriel at the start of April, it has been pleasing to see how much Jakub Kiwior has grown in confidence. A series of sterling individual displays have boosted the 25-year-old’s stock, and he was at his very best to help deny Newcastle a goal.
Taking on added responsibility in this clash after William Saliba came off at half-time, seamlessly moving to the right, our Polish international played with determination and intelligence. This fabulous interception in the second half, making up a lot of ground to cut out a dangerous pass across the face of goal typified his efforts:
Whenever we were put under pressure by the Magpies, Kiwior made sure he was a dominant presence. His 11 clearances were a team-high by some distance. He also won six duels, made four ball recoveries, two interceptions, two blocks and he won a tackle:
**Kiwior's defensive chalkboard**
Nice numbers from Trossard
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Just as he was at Anfield, Leandro Trossard was a persistently bright spark. Despite starting as a false nine before moving to the left wing, no one in red and white had more touches of the ball than our gifted Belgian forward.
Never hiding, always keen to accept a pass or challenge for a 50-50, he topped our rankings in a variety of different categories:
**Trossard**
**AFC Rank**
**Touches**
69
1st
**Dribbles**
8
1st
**Completed dribbles**
5
1st
**Duels**
18
1st
**Duels won**
8
1st
**Possession won**
6
1st
**Pressures resulting in a turnover**
6
1st
We also saw some exciting dribbles from Trossard, but also bags of industry out of possession. Right from the outset he was hungry to stamp his mark on the game.
Another Rice rocket
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Stepping up to earn his side three points that confirmed our qualification for next season’s Champions League, the game’s big moment came from the right boot of Rice.
Martin Odegaard picked him out on the edge of the box with an accurate and perfectly weighted pass that gave him the option to hit a shot first time. There was still plenty to do, but his fierce, whipped effort flew past Nick Pope in a flash.
This sweet strike was Rice’s 19th goal involvement in all competitions this season (9 goals, 10 assists), with only Bukayo Saka (25) having a hand in more this term. He is revelling in his box-to-box role, and this brilliant goal typified his impact during the second half of this campaign.
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