Ten minutes of normal time remained when Mikel Arteta withdrew the outstanding Martin Ødegaard and the almost equally impressive Gabriel Martinelli. Arsenal’s manager had judged his team’s two-goal lead sufficiently secure to protect this magnificent match’s two principal catalysts, resting their legs for the challenges ahead.
Manchester City may be a point ahead at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand but Arteta’s players are not about to surrender their title pursuit just yet – and certainly not after coming through a significant test of character and courage on Tyneside with flying colours.
