Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TOON ARE LEFT BADLY BRUCED
Aubameyang and Co are flippin’ way too deadly for sorry Newcastle
SKIPPER Pierre-emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Arsenal turned up the pressure on Newcastle boss Steve Bruce.
Aubameyang made up for an incredible first-half miss as he struck twice in the second half.
Bukayo Saka was also on target for the Gunners, who made it four wins in their last five games almost without breaking sweat.
Under-fire Bruce can now feel the heat after nine games without a win in all competitions and Toon fans growing increasingly restless.
There were glimpses of Arsenal at their best during the second half when they began to click beautifully, with Thomas Partey, Saka and Emile Smith Rowe showing their quality.
After Aubameyang broke the deadlock in the 50th minute, Saka added a second after brilliant work by Smith-rowe down the left flank. Those two homegrown youngsters provide a wonderful glimpse of the future for Arsenal.
But Aubameyang’s 50th-minute opener felt just as important because Arsenal’s star striker has had such a desperately lean run this season. That is one of the reasons why Arsenal find themselves in midtable, only recently moving above sorry
Newcastle.
Toon boss Bruce
(right) finally snapped last week, calling his players
“s***e” after they became the first team to lose to Sheffield United this season. You expected some sort of reaction as Bruce went old school, with Andy Carroll and Callum Wilson leading his attack. It was a response to critics who have accused him of negative tactics, but he didn’t get the response from his players he was looking for.
The harsh reality was that
Newcastle were probably ideal opponents for an Arsenal team still some way short of returning to their best, even though this was their fifth successive clean sheet.
But wins like these can lift the mood for a club...and darken the clouds hovering above St James’ Park. On this evidence, relegation is looking a very real threat
But Arsenal can begin to look upwards, especially Aubameyang.
Yet it hadn’t started so well. His recent slump was summed up by an awful miss after just 15 minutes. Newcastle keeper Karl Darlow made a super save to deny Saka but the rebound fell right to Aubameyang, who had the goal at his mercy. Even though it was a tight angle, the striker should have made no mistake but he instead smashed the ball against the post.
He could have dropped his head and begun to feel sorry for himself, but instead he went looking to make amends. And he did just that in the 50th minute.
Partey, restored to the starting line-up, began the move with a lovely dummy on the edge of his own box before he launched a brilliant diagonal pass to send Aubameyang racing away down the left flank.
Aubameyang sprinted forward, drifted past Emil Krafth, and lashed a shot past Darlow. It was an exquisite finish straight out of the top drawer and the Arsenal striker really enjoyed his trademark back-flip celebration.
It got better after 60 minutes when Smith Rowe and Saka combined again for Saka to steer home. A terrific goal made in Arsenal’s academy.
Arsenal and Aubameyang completed their night after 77 minutes. Cedric Soares broke down the right and just about kept the ball in play before cutting it back for Aubameyang to fire home for a simple tap in. Job done.