Koscielny digs in to keep Arsenal on top
THIS was not pretty; far from it. But for Arsenal this result has farreaching significance.
Their 3-0 demolition of struggling Manchester United or the 5-2 trouncing of Leicester earlier in the season were irresistible performances which were easy on the eye.
But the fluency was missing yesterday; the three points, more importantly, were not.
Arsenal had to dig deep and Laurent Koscielny’s goal secured an edgy victory over a defiant Newcastle side. But it is the manner of victory that pleased manager Arsene Wenger the most.
Can Arsenal play poorly and win? It looks like they have now found the formula.
For large parts of this encounter, Newcastle had the Gunners on the back foot. Indeed, without goalkeeper Petr Cech the outcome would have been entirely different.
But when you are in a title race, a win is a win.
‘We were tested today, our fluency was not there, so we had to stick together and win the game how we could,’ admitted Wenger, whose team stay top of the Premier League. ‘It shows we have the mental aspect — that is very important. Not to drop points when you don’t play well is very important.
‘The memory of this will help us in the future when we need to hang on.’
You could not help but feel for Steve McClaren’s side. If they can produce this level of performance on a regular basis then they will stay up.
Not that was any consolation to the Magpies manager. ‘I’m scratching my head,’ said McClaren.
‘Not many teams will do that to Arsenal and not come away with anything. Cech was the difference — that’s why he has been such a great goalkeeper.’
Newcastle’s players paid their respects to another goalkeeper — Pavel Srnicek. They donned shirts with ‘Pavel is a Geordie’ emblazoned across them as they warmed up before kick-off.
The Emirates Stadium responded with a huge round of applause for the Czech Republic shot-stopper, who died last week after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Had Hector Bellerin shot instead of squaring to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain early on then the Gunners’ afternoon may have panned out quite differently.
Instead, though, they were put through the wringer by Newcastle, who, after weathering an early storm from Arsenal, were in the ascendancy. Cech made his first save of the day, denying Georginio Wijnaldum’s header before stopping Ayoze Perez’s follow-up.
Perez fired another warning to the home side, striking a shot from the edge of the box wide of Cech’s far post after superb work from Moussa Sissoko.
The home crowd were growing agitated; this was not in the script against a team engulfed in a relegation scrap after just four wins all season. In the build up to the clash, McClaren vowed to bully the league leaders in search of unlikely points. His team stayed true to his word, suffocating the title chasers and importantly, minimising Mesut Ozil’s influence in the first half. In Arsenal’s defence, the driving rain was doing little to help their passing fluency. The weather conditions, though, are what champions have to cope with. Cech was relieved to see Perez’s acrobatic bicycle kick fly straight at him in the closing stages of the opening period before he made an even better save to deny Wijnaldum’s close-range effort.
Wenger swapped his rain-soaked match-day suit for a tracksuit for the second half but the costume change didn’t spark an early second half improvement from his high-flying side.
The Gunners could have been twodown by the 50th minute. First, Wijnaldum, with just Cech to beat, was denied by goalkeeper after Perez’s excellent pass.
Then Aleksandar Mitrovic sent an awkward effort off his knee over the bar from five yards after more excellent play from Perez. ‘Liven up,’ screamed one disgruntled Arsenal supporter. Wenger’s sentiments would have been pretty similar.
Arsenal eventually started to show signs of life; Aaron Ramsey’s sliding effort was saved by Rob Elliott before Olivier Giroud clipped the top of the bar with a chipped effort in the 59th minute.
Then, to the relief of the Emirates Stadium, the hosts took the lead.
It was Koscielny who slotted home at the back post; but the defender owed much to Giroud, whose header from Ozil’s corner put the ball on a plate for him, as did some slack marking from Perez.
You could sense the collective puff off the cheeks as relief spread round the stadium; Arsenal had hardly been at the races.
Yet, plucky Newcastle just kept coming; Mitrovic sent a header narrowly over with nine minutes left before Wijnaldum squandered another aerial chance.
Arsenal had chances, too, and Ramsey missed two glorious opportunities to kill Newcastle off in the final five minutes, but they were inconsequential as the hosts held on.