Arsenal’s Champions League hopes may have taken a dent this week, but their title charge shows no signs of slowing down.
This 4-1 win over Newcastle made it five Premier League wins in a row for Arsenal and, such was their dominance, it could have been more.
Arsenal drew a blank in Porto on Wednesday, but there is no denying they have found their goalscoring touch in the League.
During four League matches in February, they have scored 18 goals. Manchester United have managed 36 all season.
Arsenal’s red-hot form means they are keeping pace in the title race and they are well and truly in the fight.
With 12 games to go, they trail leaders Liverpool by just two points and holders Manchester City are only one ahead of them in second.
Arsenal bounce back in style from Porto defeat
Mikel Arteta said his side had fire in their bellies after losing on Wednesday, and he wasn’t lying.
Given the tight turnaround, and the disappointing nature of Arsenal’s defeat to Porto, this felt like a night where they could slip up.
Newcastle have caused the Gunners problems in the past and they can be a difficult team to break down.
Arsenal, however, started full of purpose and they set the tone for a first-half where they overwhelmed the visitors.
Newcastle could not get out of their own half as they were suffocated by Arsenal’s press. They did not manage a single shot on goal in the first-half.
It was a strong response from Arsenal after the pain of Wednesday evening and perhaps evidence too of how they are mentally stronger this season.
Jorginho runs the show
On the evidence of tonight, Jorginho could have a big role to play for Arsenal during the run-in.
Twice this month the Italian has been parachuted into the starting XI and on both occasions he has stepped up to the plate.
Against Liverpool a few weeks ago, Jorginho excelled as a No8 and led the way with his relentless pressing.
This time, against Newcastle, the 32-year-old was deployed at the base of midfield and he was equally impressive.
Especially in the first-half, Jorginho ran the show. Newcastle sat deep and that gave the Italian the luxury of having the whole game in front of him, and time on the ball.
He took full advantage of it, dictating the pace of play and opening up the Newcastle defence for Arsenal’s second.
Picking the ball up from dip, Jorginho played a lovely pass over the top for Gabriel Martinelli - who cut it back for Kai Havertz to score.
Saka makes it five in a row
After a quiet night in Porto, Bukayo Saka was electric here.
The winger had a hand in Arsenal’s opener, with his corner leading to Sven Botman’s own-goal, and his brilliant finish made it 3-0 in the second-half.
Saka has now scored in five League games in a row, becoming the first Arsenal player to do so since Olivier Giroud nine years ago.
The 22-year-old is also the youngest player to achieve that feat for the Gunners since Jose Antonio Reyes, who was 21 at the time, in 2004.
His goal here was what is quickly becoming a trademark finish from Saka.
He picked the ball up on the right and everyone knew what was coming next. They still, however, had no answer.
It was a bit like watching Arjen Robben in his pomp, with Saka leaving his opposite man for dead before arrowing the ball into the bottom corner.
