Toon ticked off the list on Arteta’s big revenge tour
Superb Gunners run riot to erase memory of Gordon controversy
THIS time, there was to be no ‘disgrace’ and no potential for FA charges requiring a criminal defence lawyer.
But it was 90 minutes full of spite and grit from an Arsenal side hellbent on revenge on the back of how the teams’ previous league meeting ended in November.
They certainly achieved this. Arsenal have long been accused of being too nice, not the kind capable of going into battle over a 38-game campaign. Boss Mikel Arteta said on Friday that such nastiness has not been part of the club’s DNA.
From the showing last night, that side of the game is well within them. It will need to be if they are to carry on competing for the title, as they extended their unbeaten league run to six and now trail leaders Liverpool by two points.
Arsenal have begun a calendar year with six successive league wins for the first time in their history. They have also scored 15 goals in their last three league games. So much for needing a striker in the January window.
Right from the off the crowd were baying for retribution and the Gunners were obliging, putting in tackles and combating Newcastle’s high line. Their opposition, particularly in the first half, sat all the way back as expected, trying to soak up the pressure.
That Arteta post-match rant in November, after Anthony Gordon’s winning goal which went through three separate VAR checks, will likely go down in the Premier League archives and it added to the maelstrom of fight before kick-off here.
Once the first goal went in, via Arsenal’s favourite method of execution, a corner-kick, the route was clear. Bukayo Saka’s corner met Gabriel’s head. Loris Karius pulled off a good reflex save, only for Tino Livramento to rebound the ball into the net off Sven Botman’s knee. Botman had been sprawled on the floor.
Six minutes later and the lead was doubled. Jorginho split the field with a through ball to Gabriel Martinelli. He reached the byline, crossing for Kai Havertz who was left with a tap-in.
The second half brought a further three goals, two of them to the rampant Gunners.
Revenge is a speciality Arteta has become well-versed in dishing out, from before the season officially started.
Manchester City’s punishment for tripping up the Gunners to snatch the title last season was a defeat on penalties in the Community Shield in August and a 1-0 league loss in October.
For Liverpool, they were handed a 3-1 defeat earlier this month after beating Arteta’s men in January in the FA Cup. And then there was West Ham, a 6-0 drubbing after they beat Arsenal twice earlier in the campaign. The sequence meant Newcastle knew the Emirates would be a fortress — the north London club have only lost once in the league here this season.
They also knew how tough it would be in light of how the last match between these teams ended. It was clearly fresh in the mind. Arsenal welcomed Gabriel Jesus to the bench after he had missed the last four games with a knee injury. It is a recurrent problem that he has dealt with since the 2022 World Cup. His team will hope he is back for good this time.
For Newcastle Karius was in goal, who had not started since the Carabao Cup final 12 months ago. There was also the boost of having striker Alexander Isak back from injury, the attacking load having fallen on Gordon of late.
The match started as it left off on November 4. The crowd roared as Havertz closed down Fabian Schar in the opening minutes and Martin Odegaard left a mark with his tackles, too.
In Odegaard’s case he was a little too amped up, receiving a yellow card for clattering Miguel Almiron
after just seven minutes. In a week in which Arteta spoke of teaching his men the dark arts, you wondered how hard the switch from nice to streetwise had been pressed.
In the early stages, you could sense it being pressed with some force. Once Gabriel’s header found its way into the net off Botman’s knee, the deadlock, and match, had been broken open.
Havertz scored soon after with a tap-in and the traffic forward intensified. Odegaard disposessed Schar, resulting in a corner rather than goalbound shot, and Saka’s cross was headed over by Martinelli.
Further attacks, including a Saka drive through three defenders and shot via his weaker right foot that was parried away, did not result in a third goal by half-time.
Arsenal were keen to put the game to bed, having experienced a few nervy finishes on home turf. But with zero shots taken by the Magpies thus far, the potential for jeopardy seemed limited.
Havertz, for all his hard work in the first period, should have finished the game off within a minute of the restart. Martinelli played him through and the German dragged the ball wide.
Isak at the other end tried to round David Raya but the keeper did enough to ward him off. It was a reminder but did not matter in the end.
Once Saka jinked in on his left foot, a bulge in the bottom left of the net followed. Then, on 69 minutes, Jakub Kiwior pinched a goal, his header going in from a Declan Rice corner. Isak scored a consolation but Arsenal’s league rampage, for now, continues.