Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is sure to be immensely proud with the way his players dug in and secured a 2-0 win away at in-form Newcastle.
While the Gunners answered some key questions with their performance, Arteta may have learned some key lessons of his own, as a number of Arsenal's fringe players contributed with stellar performances to help get their team over the line inside the intimidating cauldron of noise that is St. James' Park.
A Martin Odegaard strike from distance handed Arsenal the lead at the interval, before a Fabian Schar own goal around 20 minutes from time all but ended the game as a contest as the Gunners managed to take the sting out of the tie and sit on their lead.
Lesson 1. Jorginho's still got it
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Thomas Partey has shone at times for Arsenal this term, but the midfielder's form since the most recent international break has left plenty to be desired and as a result Jorginho has started the last two. If he was good against Chelsea mid-week, the Italian was great against Newcastle on Sunday.
The 31-year-old dictated the tempo for the Gunners and helped ease pressure on the Arsenal backline, while also providing the perfect foundation for Arteta's men to kickstart attacks of their own.
It is for that reason that Jorginho was given the Player of the Match award by Gary Neville, who was covering the clash on commentary duties for Sky Sports.
Lesson 2. Kiwior is ready to go
It was a source of huge frustration to some sections of the Arsenal faithful that Arteta opted to stick with Rob Holding for the trip to Manchester City last month.
With January signing Jakub Kiwior waiting in the wings, many felt the Poland international should have been deployed to deal with Erling Haaland and co.
Arteta clearly didn't deem the 23-year-old ready, but did so today, much like he did at the Emirates on Tuesday against Chelsea. The central defender has impressed on both occasions.
Kiwior dealt with the threat of both Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson perfectly and more than played his part in an impressive clean-sheet for Arsenal.
Lesson 3. Tierney has a part to play
Much like Jorginho's situation with Partey, Kieran Tierney has had to play second fiddle to Oleksandr Zinchenko for much of this season.
However, the Scotland international reminded many that he is still a fantastic defender with his cameo appearance off the bench against the Magpies.
While Tierney may not be capable of some of the line-splitting through balls or deft flicks that Zinchenko has completed so often this term, he remains the superior defender.
That's why the former City star was hooked in place of Tierney with around half an hour still to play, as most of Newcastle's attacking joy was coming down Arsenal's left-flank.
Tierney came on and instantly shored things up, with the hosts making few attempts to target that area once the former Celtic man had been introduced.
Arteta should hand all three of the aforementioned trio more minutes before the season's end to ensure morale remains high going into the summer.
