Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – A bad night at the office must be followed by a better one in Blackburn

Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – Saturday 24 February 2024 8pm

Arsenal started at breakneck speed, though without a proper centre-forward. On paper, Havertz looked less of a threat than Saka.

However, football is not played on paper. A corner won after 15 seconds quickly led to another. And there was no BDB to dominate the aerial battle.

Predictably, Havertz conceded the first free kick. That allowed us to push up and settle down without Karius being tested. A swift break by Trippier and Almiron was stopped by Odegaard, that master of the dark arts, who was booked for a cynical foul.

Livramento was caught the wrong side of Saka, whose shot was partly blocked. We were struggling to move beyond halfway or given Isak anything except scraps in the first 15 minutes.

Martinelli looked more dangerous than the heavily marked Saka, though the England winger did take the corner on 18 minutes that led to the first goal. His cross cleared Miley at the near post and Gabriel powered a header on target. Karius made a top save but Botman and Livramento combined to bundle the ball over the line in trying to clear. A Dutch disaster.

Five minutes later we were two down when Martinelli ran diagonally from left to right and crossed from the byline, through Botman, to Havertz six yards out for a tap in.

Then Schar had a brain fade, presenting the ball to Arsenal. Longstaff did well to prevent what looked a certain third.

United looked all at sea, unable to cover our opponents’ movement, unable to hold the ball, unable to push out with the ball.

Guimaraes escaped a card on 30 minutes after fouling Jorginho.

All over the pitch, Arsenal were quicker and slicker. Whenever we did put three passes together, a tactical foul stopped us in our tracks, usually in our half.

Saka forced Karius into a flying save after dancing through the left side of our defence. In stoppage time we finally reached the edge of Arsenal’s box but Raya was untested, apart from having to rush out a couple of times to clear hopeful through balls.

A two-goal deficit at half-time was fortunate; Arsenal could have been out of sight after running rings round us for 45 minutes.

Schar and Botman looked jaded, Livramento undercooked and Isak isolated. A tweak or more was needed.

The second half started the same as the first, with Arsenal passing and moving through the heart of United’s formation as if we were Burtons dummies. Havertz reverted to type by missing the target when faced only by Karius.

Gordon fired in our first shot of the match on 49 minutes, a few moments after Isak had found space in the box but no end product. Raya saved comfortably from Gordon but at least we were having some of the ball in the attacking third.

Understandably, Arsenal were not pouring forward with as much intensity as in the first half. Possession was shared rather than monopolised. Isak on the wide left was found by a superb crossfield ball from Guimaraes and danced inside before firing narrowly over Raya’s near post.

Murphy and Barnes replaced Almiron and Isak on 63 minutes, with Gordon going through the middle.

Before the subs could do anything, Botman misplaced the ball on halfway and Arsenal fed Saka. He twisted Livramento inside out, then whipped in Arsenal’s third via a Botman deflection.

Four minutes later another corner led to another goal at the wrong end. All match, Arsenal had runners beyond the far post surging towards Karius. This time, the Rice dead ball was flicked in by Kiwior and in via a deflection off Miley.

With the game lost, Lascelles replaced Botman and Burn replaced Livramento to end two personal nightmares mercifully early.

Guimaraes also left on 73 minutes, making way for Willock to stretch his legs. A rare bit of good news on a grim night in north London. Barring injury, our Brazilian will start the next Premier League match still on nine bookings.

With time running out, Burn surged on the overlap after Barnes found Gordon on the right edge of Arsenal’s box. BDB clipped in a superb first-time cross that Willock glanced into the far corner of the net with a perfectly placed header. Scant consolation but great to see Willock score on his return to action.

Ally McCoist made Jorginho man of the match, presumably not for his handful of tactical fouls but for his tireless pressing in midfield that allowed Rice to play more progressively.

In stoppage time Burn lost a tackle against Nelson but raced back to the goal line and prevented a fifth with Karius beaten.

On we go, to Ewood Park in the Cup on Tuesday. A bad night at the office must be followed by a better one in Blackburn.

Stats via BBC Sport:

Arsenal 4 Newcastle 1 – Saturday 24 February 2024 8pm:

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Willock 84

Arsenal:

Botman OG 18, Havertz 24, Saka 65, Kiwior 69

Possession was Arsenal 55% Newcastle 45%

Total shots were Arsenal 18 Newcastle 3

Shots on target were Arsenal 8 Newcastle 2

Corners were Arsenal 9 Newcastle 0

Referee: Paul Tierney

Attendance: 60,298 (3,000 Newcastle)

Newcastle team v Bournemouth:

Karius, Trippier, Schar, Botman (Lascelles 73), Livramento (Burn 73), Longstaff, Guimaraes (Willock 73), Miley, Almiron (Murphy 64), Gordon, Isak (Barnes 64)

Unused subs:

Gillespie, Ritchie, Krafth, Hall

Newcastle United confirmed matches to end of March 2024:

Tuesday 27 February 2024 – Blackburn v Newcastle (7.45pm) BBC1

Saturday 2 March 2024 – Newcastle v Wolves (3pm)

Monday 11 March 2024 – Chelsea v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports

Saturday 16 March 2024 – Crystal Palace v Newcastle (3pm) ***If Newcastle beat Blackburn, NUFC will be playing in FA Cup sixth round this weekend instead.

Saturday 30 March 2024 – Newcastle v West Ham (12.30pm) TNT Sports