Opposite day for Arsenal
Vengeance has become something of a habit for Arsenal this season. With Kill Bill-like relentlessness they have sliced through nearly every team that wronged them last season. Crystal Palace were taken care of on the opening day, before the demons of last season's curtain raiser were exorcised at Brentford. A win at Tottenham helped heal over several scars too. Each occasion was special, but one more remained on their list.
Last year a beaten down and beleaguered Arsenal side saw their Champions League hopes capitulate at a cauldronous St. James' Park. As Jacob Murphy struck the post within 90 seconds it appeared we may see a sequel. Mikel Arteta though, was keen to write his own script.
Earlier that day the Spaniard had used clips from Amazon's All or Nothing documentary to remind his players of the traumatic evening they had suffered in Newcastle almost exactly 12 months ago. "We had to feel it," he said when asked why in his post-match press conference. "It wasn’t enough just to talk about it. We had to feel it, we had to see it, we had to recognise our faces. Not just the players but what it meant for the staff as well. That’s football. You can win or lose, but that feeling that we didn’t do enough on the day, we had to put it right."
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After riding that early storm Arsenal set about doing exactly that. Just moments after VAR overturned a penalty initially given for a handball by Jakub Kiwior, Martin Odegaard had the Gunners in front. Were it not for a combination of the excellence of Nick Pope and the profligacy or Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, they could have been further ahead by the break.
Newcastle though, were in no mood to roll over. Despite the choirboy appearance of Eddie Howe, the Magpies are a streetwise team who sought to drag Arsenal into the gutter for a brawl. Although they are a side who have won plaudits for their easy on the eye style this season, the Gunners showed they were more than willing to go there.
Granit Xhaka clapped back when Calum Wilson looked to rile him. Gabriel Jesus fought smart to win free-kicks while Kieran Trippier wanted to brawl. Gabriel squared up when Bruno Guimaraes raked down the back of Saka's ankle. This combined with countless examples of 'game management' conspired to give Newcastle a hearty serving of what they had dished out at the Emirates Stadium back in January.
It was the exact kind of intelligence and fire that had been so desperately lacking in this fixture last year. National opposite day is officially January 25, but as far as Arsenal were concerned it may as well have been May 7. Arteta was unsurprisingly delighted with how transformed his side appeared.
"It was very different that’s for sure yes," he said. "It was needed. They are a very good team, the atmosphere they created is incredible so we needed a much better performance than any game we’ve played this season. I said to the players, to win today you’re going to have to be individually the best performance of the season. If not, you’re not gonna win here."
Ømazing
Leadership comes in various shapes and sizes. Over the years Arsenal have had several chest thumping, thunderous tackle-making captains like Tony Adams or Patrick Vieira. Martin Odegaard isn't that, but don't let anyone tell you he isn't a leader.
What leadership truly is, is the ability to show up and be an example even when times are tough. The early exchanges for Arsenal certainly were just that. If this game was an arm wrestle then the Gunners forearms were trembling dangerously close to the table in the first 10 minutes. It was largely thanks to Odegaard that they were able to thrust back up and turn the tide.
It wasn't just the goal - an excellent finish which now takes him to 15 for the season without a single penalty, three more than Frank Lampard ever managed. Instead what was the most impressive was the manner in which he relentlessly upheld his manager's principles.
The Norwegian won the ball up high time and again as Newcastle struggled to play from the back. Then when in possession, his quality was sublime. It feels probably cliché to say, but this was a true captain's performance.
"The leadership he is showing and the level of consistency - which is what you demand from those leaders, that it’s not moments, it’s just every single day and home and away he had some huge performances, he’s really helping the team," Arteta said of his skipper after the game. "He’s growing in the right direction and we are all very happy to have him."
If Arsenal go on to win the Premier League against the odds, it will be Odegaard who hoists the trophy above his head. It's hard to think of anyone more deserving.
Arteta's midfield gamble pays off
It felt going into this one that there would be two changes Mikel Arteta would make to his side. The difficult one would see Gabriel Martinelli edge out Leandro Trossard on the left. The easy one was supposed to be Thomas Partey coming back in for Jorginho in the middle of the park.
Memories of last season where Mohamed Elneny had been outrun by a relentless Newcastle midfield were fresh. The Magpies had shown only a couple of weeks ago against Tottenham what their central players could do if allowed to build up to full speed. For the first 10 minutes it appeared they might do just that, but then came the speedbump that was Jorginho.
"There were question marks because it was going to be really physical but you want to go physicality against physicality, we’d have no chance to win the game, so we had to try for something different," Arteta said when asked to explain the selection. "I think he understood the game really well, he’s a really intelligent player, he gives a lot of security to the team. He dominated the game in many moments."
The Italian was never going to be able to go toe-to-toe with Newcastle when it came to physicality as Partey might have been able to. What he brought however, was a composure and economy in possession that allowed Arsenal to slowly turn down the volume on what had been a raucous St James' Park.
While others might have wilted under the pressure, Jorginho only seemed to grow taller and admitted after the game that these kind of atmospheres are what he lives for. For a player not known for his mobility, the 31-year-old covered more distance than anyone else (11.1km), as well as winning possession more frequently than any of his teammates (nine times) and completing the most final third passes (14)
It's hard not to wonder what might have been if he had been thrown into a similarly cacophonous environment in the latter stages at Anfield, or throughout at the Etihad. But having been thrust unexpectedly into this set up, he coped well and showed why many were probably hasty to baulk when his signing was announced on deadline day in January.
Arsenal determined to fight on
This felt like the kind of victory you need en route to a Premier League title. Sadly for Arsenal it appears to have come a bit too late in the race.
Even without being at their best, Manchester City eased past Leeds on Saturday to ensure that the Gunners could not regain top spot no matter what happened at St James' Park. While the victory and display may not have been rewarded in terms of position in the table though, what it does do is show that Arsenal are intent on fighting right until the end.
"We are there, we want to keep digging," Arteta said on the message this performance at Newcastle sent. "The prize is there, not too far. The only thing we can do is keep insisting and not turn our backs and lose focus on something else. Be determined every single day. Let’s keep going and see what happens."
There are two ways Arsenal could have ended this season. They could have petered out to allow City to waltz away and claim the league with a 10-point margin. Instead though they seem determined to give the season a finale that their play up until this point deserves.
If Pep Guardiola's side do go on to win every match between now and the end of the season, that would make it 14 league victories in a row. There is no shame in coming second to that. There would however, have been shame in capitulating after the odds turned against them. The Gunners have shown that they are not going to do that.
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