Arsenal defeat Newcastle 2-0 to remain in title hunt
Arsenal showed no sign of raising the white flag in the Premier League title race with a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United yesterday to close the gap on Manchester City to one point.
Defeat would have left Arsenal’s hopes of a first title since 2004 hanging by a thread but Martin Odegaard’s brilliant strike and a Fabian Schar own goal sealed a vital victory.
Newcastle, bidding to cement third place and take a big step towards a top-four finish, dominated early on but Odegaard’s strike after 14 minutes gave the visitors the lead.
Schar inadvertently turned in Gabriel Martinelli’s cross with 20 minutes remaining.
City, who have won 10 straight games to overhaul Arsenal, have 82 points from 34 games with the Gunners on 81 having played a game more.
Newcastle stayed third on 65 ahead of Manchester United’s clash with West Ham United late last night.
If ever there was a test of the resolve of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal team it was a trip to St James’ Park to face a Newcastle side on a quest to return to the Champions League after an absence of two decades.
They were fortunate to survive an early onslaught with Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy thumping a second-minute shot against the post and Alexander Isak forcing Aaron Ramsdale into an early save.
Newcastle were awarded a penalty after Bruno Guimaraes was blocked by Jakub Kiwior and referee Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot for apparent handball, but a VAR check overturned the decision.
Arsenal then took the lead with their first shot as Odegaard sent a skidding effort inside the post.
The visitors were devastatingly effective on the counterattack and Odegaard was at the heart of all their best work, releasing Martinelli, who forced Nick Pope into a smart save.
Pope came to Newcastle’s rescue again in stoppage time at the end of a frenetic first half, keeping out Odegaard’s shot.
The second half began in almost identical fashion to the first with Murphy’s cross being headed against the post by Isak and Ramsdale keeping out Schar’s close-range header.
Martinelli, in the 71st minute, carried the ball down the left before fizzing in a low cross that deflected off Schar into the net.