Arsenal had to start with Thomas Partey as right-back again as Ben White has still not recovered from his injury, so we were looking a little disjointed as we have in the last few games.
And we could not have got off to a worse start, although the first big chance fell to Bukayo Saka who blasted a shot just on the wrong side of the post after 11 minutes, but immediately Newcastle were back up our end and their move ended with with Anthony Godon putting in an excellent cross for Alexander Isak to leap high behind Gabriel, and Raya could only watch as the ball flew into the top corner of Raya’s net and we were 1-0 down after just 12 minutes.
Newcastle are yet to drop a point from a winning position this season so now the Gunners had a mountain to climb. As expected this was always going to be a physical match and Arsenal were finding it hard to get past the Toon without getting fouled but we kept going forward.
After half an hour Saka put a brilliant cross right in front of their goal but Schar got the first touch and somehow managed to get it over the bar, and just a minute later Merino smashed the ball at goal but there was a wall of defenders blocking the shot.
Arsenal fans did see a little bit of justice when Schar got booked for kicking the ball away a few minutes before half time. Maybe refs have discovered that Arsenal are not the only offenders.
The second half started lively with both sides looking refreshed and keen to score but there were more bookings than real scoring chances. After an hour Martinelli and Merino make way for Zinchenko and Ethan Nwaneri coming on at last, and immediately drew a cynical foul from Willock which resulted in yet another yellow card.
% minutes later Declan Rice came very very close but still no goal for the Gunners, and with 20 minutes to go Timber and Trossard make way for Jesus and White. One thing is for sure is that Rice seems a little off, especially from set pieces which is normally his forte.
Arsenal kept going with a few half chances but the clock kept ticking without any big chances in sight. Arsenal were all over Newcastle but yet again Rice launches an awful free kick which is wasted.
With just a few minutes to go Jolinton tested Raya but he easily caught his header and we were given 5 minutes added time to try and pull one back.
Nwaneri had his first shot but it was way over the target and sure enough Pope winds down the clock with a very slow goal kick. Newcastle were all in defence and Nwaneri made another wild attempt from distance.
Right on time Rice had a great chance to equalise but his header was way off target. Not a good day for Ricy Baby and Arsenal have lost 1-0 to Newcastle for the second game in a row.
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