Unai Emery named an unchanged lineup from the side which beat Cardiff before the international break, while Rafa Benitez was forced into a few changes. Salomon Rondon had to travel far on international duty with Venezuela and was dropped to the bench, Joselu taking his place. Jacob Murphy was handed a start, as was Isaac Hayden against his old club.
The changes appeared to work for Newcastle in the first half, as they swarmed all over Arsenal. Cech once again looked shaky with the ball at his feet, and the defence struggled to cope with the black and white press, but Newcastle could not convert their dominance into goals.
They were made to pay for it after the break. Mo Diame gave away a free-kick around 25 yards from goal and Xhaka punished them in style. He is not shy to shoot from range the Swiss but it is rare he stands over a dead ball. It didn’t matter as he stroked the ball into the top corner with Martin Dubravka at full-stretch.
Having not been in the game at all, Arsenal suddenly had a fresh wind. Wave and wave of attack came as they grew in confidence and the lead was soon doubled. Alexandre Lacazette was found in the box, and after his effort was saved by Dubravka it fell kindly to Ozil.
The German midfielder has had a turbulent start to the season, but this should calm his nerves. He stroked a finish through a crowd of players and beyond the reach of Dubravka, to give Arsenal a barely-deserved two-goal lead.
Jamaal Lascelles had gone off injured at half time to be replaced by Ciaran Clark and his absence at the back was telling.
With that, Newcastle never looked like getting themselves back into the game. Benitez waited until the 65th minute to make his first substitution, bringing Kenedy on for Murphy. It had little effect.
In fact, just as the game finally did look over, Newcastle found a way back in. Clark headed home from a deep cross and there were two minutes to salvage something. If Joselu had managed to do the same two minutes earlier when free in the box they could have been looking at a point rescued.
As it was, Arsenal saw out the game with ease to worsen Newcastle’s woes. They have played four of last season’s top six in their opening five games, losing all of them by a margin of two goals to one. Whether or not this can be view as a positive remains to be seen, but the ‘Magpies’ will have to start picking up points soon.
15 September 2018