Key events
GOAL! Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle United (Saka 65)
Botman’s distribution has been abysmal all evening, and he’s at fault here again. He needlessly ships possession to Havertz, and Arsenal stream forward. Saka is slipped into the box from the right. He chops infield to see off Livramento with ease, before passing calmly across Karius and into the bottom left. The keeper with no chance. Another wonderful goal!
64 min: Newcastle respond with two of their own, hooking Isak and Almiron and sending on Barnes and Murphy.
63 min: Arsenal make their first change of the evening, replacing Martinelli with Trossard.
62 min: One goal would change everything, of course, and Guimaraes sprays a sensational diagonal ball towards Isak on the left flank. Isak brings it down with a gossamer touch, cuts infield, and whistles a shot over the bar. You’ve seen him plant those into the top corner before. That would have been one hell of a goal.
59 min: Saka tries to spring Havertz into space down the left only to clank an uncharacteristically poor pass out for a goal kick.
58 min: White wedges a pass down the right in the hope of releasing Saka. Botman does extremely well to keep up with Saka and shepherd the ball out for a goal kick. Arsenal’s play is nowhere near as intense now, but then it doesn’t really need to be.
56 min: Newcastle probe around the edges of the Arsenal box but the home defence holds firm. Raya still hasn’t had any serious work to do this evening, holding off Isak apart.
54 min: Arsenal haven’t reached the artistic heights of the first half yet. No matter, the memory of that performance lives on, and the Emirates is en fête. The home fans entertaining themselves via the medium of song.
52 min: Not that Newcastle are totally back up to speed. Martinelli skins Longstaff down the left with absurd ease and the midfielder is fortunate that the subsequent low cross is intercepted well by Almiron.
51 min: Gabriel leaves a calling card on the back of Isak’s head. Trippier pumps the free kick long into the box but Arsenal deal with it easily enough. Newcastle have at least turned up for the second half, unlike the one that preceded it.
49 min: Gordon cuts in from the left and takes a shot from the edge of the box. Raya smothers. That’s Newcastle’s first shot on target. According to TNT, this match is the first time Newcastle haven’t mustered an effort on goal in the first half in the Premier League since March 2014 against Southampton. So this represents something of an advance.
48 min: Yep, it should be over, and that miss nearly takes on sudden importance as Isak tries to round Raya only to get the ball stuck under his feet. It could have been 3-0, it could have been 2-1. But here we are.
47 min: It should be three. Saka drives hard at the Newcastle back line before carving it open down the middle. He strokes a pass through to release Havertz, who attempts to pass into the bottom-right corner, only to ping it wide. This should be over.
Newcastle get the second half started. No changes, Newcastle’s starting XI presumably having been told to go back out and right some wrongs.
Half-time postbag. “With City being nowhere near as good as they have been the previous few seasons and Liverpool being three injuries away from giving me a call, surely this is Arsenal’s best chance of winning the league? The fact that they seem to be on a mission to score five goals in every game the rest of the season probably also helps” – Espen B
“This season the Gunners have made tighter defences than the Magpies’ look flimsier than a four-year-old’s cover story for why there’s ice-cream all over their face before supper. But it’s been striking that Newcastle defenders keep running towards spots where the Arsenal attackers aren’t. Whatever system they’re using isn’t working anymore” – Kári Tulinius
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
Nothing happens in the other two, either, and Newcastle traipse off, having been given the royal runaround. The 2-0 scoreline seriously flatters them, such has been Arsenal’s elegant dominance. If the visitors are to somehow get back into this, Eddie Howe has some serious work to do during the break.
45 min +1: The first of three added minutes drifts by without incident.
45 min: A third long pass in as many minutes by Newcastle, down the right again, this time for Almiron. Raya again comes out to do his job. A blueprint for Newcastle in the second half here? It’s as dangerous as they’ve looked, even if that bar is set absurdly low, and attack may well be the best form of defence.
44 min: Another long ball by Newcastle, this time down the right. Isak can’t get there before Raya, who rushes out of his box to hammer clear.
43 min: Almiron is suddenly sprung clear down the left. He draws Raya, only to weakly waft an effort straight at the keeper, who claims. Then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
42 min: Rice aims a no-backlift rising shot towards the top right. Karius handles it with aplomb. The flag goes up for offside anyway, but that was good handling.
41 min: Guimaraes is back up and running, boot back on. “Newcastle’s transformation this season from spiky vertebrate to passive invertebrate has been something to behold,” writes Niall Mullen. “I’m sure we’ll all have to bow down before their crushing dominance in the near future so for the time being I for one am going to enjoy them being some distance from stellar.”
40 min: Guimaraes does the professional thing and goes down with a boot complaint. Time for Newcastle to regroup in the hope of getting through to half-time without taking any more punishment.
38 min: Saka hip-shakes between two effort-free Livramento and Gordon challenges, making space to shoot down the inside-right channel. His rising shot is tipped away expertly by Karius. Nothing comes of the corner. As good as Arsenal’s relentless press has been, Newcastle’s resistance to it is pitiful.
37 min: Longstaff slaps a simple pass out straight at Rice, who attempts to set up Havertz. Newcastle are fortunate the pair overthink it and execute their plan poorly.
35 min: Now Longstaff is caught napping, offering Martinelli the opportunity to blaze over from the edge of the box. Number three is in the post.
34 min: When even Guimaraes looks rattled, you know you’re in trouble. He clumsily passes straight out of play for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Newcastle need to cop on quickly, because more goals are coming if they keep playing as dozily as this.
33 min: On TNT, Ally McCoist points out that Newcastle aren’t pressing at all, and that passive approach is costing them dear, no matter how good Arsenal are. Chris Paraskevas agrees: “Tactically, it feels like Eddie Howe is shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. I can think of a few other situations this season where sitting deep and absorbing pressure would have worked well for us (Milan and Dortmund at home?). The big problem tonight is no-one in the Newcastle Starting XI has adopted the right mentality, standing off and waiting for an error. Too many Arsenal players with time and space in our penalty box. Not enough grit in midfield. And crucially: no out ball for Isak and Gordon, and no attempt to pressure Raya (who has looked dodgy with ball at feet tonight). Where’s Andy Carroll when you need him?”
31 min: Guimaraes catches Jorginho late and is fortunate to avoid the booking that would trigger an automatic two-game suspension. When the game restarts, Odegaard releases Saka down the right with a cute backheel. Saka crosses to the in-rushing Martinelli, who can’t keep his header down from 12 yards. Had he planted that one home, it would have been another picture-book goal. Arsenal are purring.
30 min: Saliba launches long, looking for Havertz. Karius reads the danger, racing out of his box to blooter clear.
