Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove

ARSENAL eased past Newcastle United 2-0 on Saturday to leave the Saudi-owned billionaires rock bottom of the Premier League.

While new boss Eddie Howe finally appeared in the Magpies dugout after his bout of Covid, the Gunners proved too good for the visitors.

Despite Howe setting his team up with the intention to frustrate, Bukayo Saka’s 56th-minute goal ended their unambitious hopes of a point.

The England international’s replacement, Gabi Martinelli doubled the lead with his second touch, a superb volley after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s lofted ball to seal a routine victory.

Reflecting on the Arsenal No7’s injury after the match, boss Mikel Arteta said: “He wasn’t comfortable. He felt something.”

With the win consolidating fifth spot for the Gunners, Arteta felt it was important to get back to winning after their 4-0 rout at Liverpool last weekend.

“It was really important to win and bounce back,” he explained, adding: “It was a game that had different phases in the first half and we were able to change the game when we wanted, but without really threatening or hurting them enough.

“We lacked some urgency and some composure in the final third to deliver better balls.

“We didn’t hit the target enough with the attempts that we had and in the second half we had to maintain and not be impatient to lose any structure in our play because we were controlling them quite well, but we needed to threaten much more certain spaces and I think we did.

“We scored the two goals and after that the game was in our control.”

In an unremarkable match, both sides hit the woodwork in a shapeless first half, first, when Jonjo Shelvey’s long-range shot was tipped on to the bar by Aaron Ramsdale, prior to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hitting the post from close range when it seemed easier to score.

Arsenal remain fifth, while the Saudi-owned billionaires are six points away from 17th place Leeds, with only a bleak relegation battle to occupy them this winter.