Tides change for Arsenal on Tyneside
St James’ Park has done strange things to Arsenal. It had become Mikel Arteta’s bogey ground, defeats the last three visits, his team unable to score. Each time, bright beginnings had given way to becoming bogged down by refereeing controversy, Arsenal pulled into the rolling maul football that better suits Newcastle’s muscle. Sunday’s attacking team selection and Arteta throwing the kitchen sink in chasing a win when a point had already been rescued hinted at a change in mentality. Arteta’s team eventually wrested control of the physical battle to push for three. If the dimensions that Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyökeres have added failed to pay off, the Premier League’s deepest squad found the aerial power within itself, via Arteta’s attacking substitutions. An early overturned penalty and missed chances felt all too familiar. Arsenal’s response to those reverses, overturning their St James’ mental block, suggested a fresh determination that will serve them well in the title hunt. John Brewin
