Mikel Arteta spoke of his "pride" in his Arsenal players after they claimed a 2-0 victory against Newcastle at St. James' Park. The Gunners came into the day knowing that anything less than a win at the ground where their Champions League hopes capitulated last season, would likely spell curtains for their Premier League title hopes this time around.
For a while, it looked as though it would be a repeat of last season's traumatic events as Jacob Murphy struck the post within 90 seconds before Newcastle were awarded a penalty for handball by Jakub Kiwior. After a lengthy delay though VAR intervened to overturn the penalty in an event that appeared to turn the momentum of the game. Moments later Arsenal were in front via a well-taken Martin Odegaard finish from the edge of the box, and were it not for the profligacy of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, they could have been even further ahead by halftime.
In a rollercoaster match however, Newcastle roared back in a manner befitting of the atmosphere in which the game was played. Alexander Isak hit the post before Aaron Ramsdale produced a sublime save from Fabian Schar as the hosts turned up the pressure.
