Key events
45+7 min “Hi Rob,” says Richard Hirst. “I’m doing a double shift with Scott Murray on the golf (we’re a dedicated lot), and I’m just imagining how long a round would take if VAR was in operation!”
Especially this weekend! Imagine Big Don rumbling down onto the green, making the VAR sign.
45+5 min The half-time break will come at a good time for Arsenal, who are yet to regain their composure since going behind. Their ability to do so probably holds the key to this match.
45+1 min There will be seven minutes of added time. Most are for the VAR check on the potential penalty; there was also the Woltemade/Gabriel business and other stuff I’ve forgotten.
45 min “Pope touched the ball just before hitting Gyokeres; fair enough (maybe),” says Joe Johnson. “But at the beginning of that move, Guimaraes had professionally bundled over an Arsenal player trying to break (advantage played — but no yellow card), and then when the whistle was blown for the penalty, Arsenal had two unchallenged players around the ball in the penalty area — but after the review the referee awards a drop-ball to the Newcastle keeper.”
You want VAR to have even greater powers?! I take your point but I’d be loath to go anywhere near that particular can of worms. That said, there are glitches. For example, a Newcastle goal in the 11th minute (details below) would have exposed a glitch in the VAR protocol. From memory something similar happened in the 2018 World Cup final, but I don’t have time to look now because this game is on the hob and the hob has been turned up.
42 min Replays show Gabriel shoving an arm into Woltemade’s neck, maybe his fac, shortly after the goal. I’d like to see that again!
That’s why Woltemade was angry, and why he rejected Gabriel’s offer of a handshake.
As for the actual football. Woltemade’s header for the goal was terrific. The cross from Tonali had a nice trajectory but no real pace on it; Woltemade guided it whence it came with enough power and precision to beat the diving Raya. It was the kind of goal Alan Shearer used to score.
40 min Arsenal have lost their heads since the goal. An emotional game suits Newcastle, who are having their best spell. Arsenal played with controlled aggression for the first half an hour and were all over Newcastle.
Saying which, Gyokeres has a sniff when he charges through the inside-right channel and into the area. Then he tries to chop back inside Thiaw, who reads it and stays on his feet to make an excellent interception. Classy defending.
36 min Arsenal don’t have a case this time – Woltemade eased Gabriel out of the way but he didn’t push him; Gabriel either slipped or dived.
Gabriel and Woltemade are having words with the referee after the resumption of play. I think Woltemade is saying Gabriel tried to elbow him.
The other guy is dead, long live Nick Woltemade. He has given Newcastle the lead against the run of play, but it’s a bit of a nightmare for Arsenal. It came from a corner on the left, conceded when Mosquera, under pressure from Woltemade, shinned a backpass out of play.
Tonali took the corner short to Gordon, got it back and floated a good ball into the middle. Woltemade eased Gabriel out of the way, six yards out, and guided an accomplished header into the bottom-left corner. Excellent header.
Arsenal think there was a push on Gabriel – but the goal stands.
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal (Woltemade 34)
Oh, Arsenal.
34 min “You can debate whether it was a penalty,” says Zach Neeley, “but no one can deny that VAR was able to STOP FOOTBALL (for four minutes in the middle of a match).”
Wait, so you’re telling me VAR could be a force for good? Everything I know is wrong.
32 min Saka leaves Burn in his slipstream and whips a right-foot shot from a tight angle. Pope is well positioned and pushes it behind for a corner.
Arsenal have been brilliant.
31 min “On USA, the commentators (who can hear the VAR communications) said the VAR group had to explain to the ref FOUR OR FIVE TIMES why it wasn’t a foul,” writes Joe Pearson. “The mind boggles.”
Exactly. That’s why they had to explain it, right? My mind boggles when I do the grocery shop, so goodness knows how frazzled a Premier League referee must be.
29 min Turns out it was Nick Pope’s towel that Calafiori was trying to use. “You can’t be nicking towels off the English…” says the Sky co-commentator Gary Neville, no doubt silently lamenting all the Egyptian cotton that has mysteriously disappeared from his hotels over the years.
28 min Calafiori grabs a towl from somewhere before taking a long throw. The referee runs over and tells him he’s not allowed, don’t ask me why.
Eventually the throw is headed away to the edge of the area, where the backpedalling Eze watches the bounce and whacks a quarter-volley is excellently saved by the diving Pope. Not quite as good as his first save, but still a quality piece of goalkeeping.
25 min: Trossard hits the post!
If Arsenal aren’t careful this is going to turn into another hard-luck story. They’ve been superb and deserve to be ahead. Saka cut inside from the right and opened up the game with a square pass to the galloping Rice. He moved to the edge of the D and played in Trossard, who battered a left-foot shot off the near post.
24 min A neat set-piece from Arsenal. Rice coaxes a free-kick beyond the far post to Gyokeres, he heads back across goal and Calafiori stoops to head not far wide. Tough chance.
22 min Before the penalty was overturned there were some suggestions that Nick Pope would be sent off. As if. “I’m pretty sure,” says Peter Oh, “you can’t send the Pope packing on a Sunday!”
21 min You’ll probably remember the “disgrace” of this fixture a couple of seasons ago. But if you’ve forgotten, there’s a reminder at the bottom of this entrry.
Can we just skip the rest of the game and cut to Mikel Arteta’s post-match interview? Give that news cycle some grist!
19 min From one Aussie to another. “Always thought Jarred Gillett was a top bloke and an even better referee!” writes Chris Paraskevas.
17 min: No penalty!
“After review, the Newcastle goalkeeper plays the ball and there is no foul.” So says the referee Jarrad Gillett to huge cheers.
Mikel Arteta is smiling sarcastically on the touchline.
16 min Pope got something on the ball with his right foot, so this will probably be overturned. Who knows any more. Gyokeres touched the ball first, then Pope, but the argument for a penalty is that Gyokeres would have got to the ball regardless had he not been tripped.
There’s also an argument that Gyokeres engineered the contact, though I’m not sure about that. There’s an argument for everything these days.
15 min Murphy’s poor backpass was read superbly by Gyokeres, who went round Pope and seemed to be tripped. We don’t know yet whether Pope will be booked, sent off or none of the above.
Hang on, the referee is going to monitor.
14 min: Penalty to Arsenal!
Nick Pope trips Gyokeres and Arsenal have a penalty.
13 min Tonali’s corner is half cleared, swung back in by Gordon and headed behind for another by Rice.
12 min “Not sure I see a place for Ødegaard in Arsenal’s best XI now they have Eberi Eze. Ødegaard is a very one footed player which means he is quite predictable and easier to pin down than Eze who can go either way. Eze is more direct as well which gives Arteta a sharper attack now they actually have a proper striker.”
I politely disagree but there’s no time, Newcastle have another corner.
11 min It doesn’t. Thiaw rises well but heads straight at Raya from 10 yards. Like Gyokeres’s header, it was a very tough chance, if it was a chance at all.
10 min Murphy’s cross towards Burn, in an offside position, is headed behind by Timber. Arsenal will be thrilled if this corner leads to a goal.
7 min Gyokeres’ snapshot from 12 yards is blocked by Botman (I think). Arsenal have made an impressive, dominant start to the game. Just don’t mention the handbrake.
5 min: Lovely save by Pope!
A cross from the right is headed clear to Eze on the edge of the area. He controls the ball quite brilliantly in mid-air, then cracks a quarter-volley back across goal with his left foot. Pope dives low to his left to brush it round the post. That’s a superb save because I think he saw it late.
2 min Joelinton leaves plenty on Saka, a challenge that displeases Mikel Arteta. Rice takes the resulting free-kick and Gyokeres, 12 yards out, heads straight at Pope. Tough chance.
2 min “Ødegaard’s absence from the starting XI is beginning to look a little ominous,” says Charles Antaki. “He’s not the kind of player who regains form by running harder, jumping higher or tackling more robustly; his kind of talent comes, you would’ve thought, from some inner genius which is either very much on or, if not, very much not. May he come on, do some bamboozling, set up two goals and score a third. That’ll help.”
He’s still in their best XI, I’d say, but he hasn’t been himself for a while. If he rediscovers the form of 2023-24, Arsenal will win the league. FACT.
1 min Peep peep! Arsenal kick off form left to right as we watch. Newcastle have started in a 4-3-3 formation.
Eddie Howe’s pre-match thoughts
[On the rivalry with Arsenal] They’ve been really tight games. I think there are two teams who show a great will to win, pride themselves on detail and tactical plans, so I think they’ve been intriguing games.
[On Newcastle’s shape and flexibility] There are a few different ways we can play – we can change our shape in-running if we need to. You don’t do it to keep people guessing, that’s irrelevant; it’s how we perform on the pitch. We’ve made a few changes but I do think it’s a strong team and we’re looking forward to seeing them gel together.
[In that case, would you like to tell us whether it’s a back three or back four?] You’ll find out in no time!
Mikel Arteta’s pre-match thoughts
[On Eberechi Eze’s inclusion] We’re very happy with what he’s doing so he’s earned the right to start the game.
[On Cristhian Mosquera’s inclusion] Willy [Saliba] is coming back from an ankle injury that he is still trying to resolve. He’s played twice in six days and we have another two games coming up this week so we have to managed the squad.
[On Martin Odegaard, who is on the bench] He’s very keen. He’s trained the last two days and he’s desperate to get on the pitch.
These stadiums and these moments make you a team. The scars, the difficulties and challenges you face, in the end they make you a better team. Hopefully we’ll show that today.
To three or not to three
I thought Newcastle were playing 4-3-3 but Sky have their formation as 3-4-2-1 with Jacob Murphy at right wing-back. That system was very effective against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup semi-final last season.
Newcastle (3-4-2-1) Pope; Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Murphy, Bruno, Tonali, Livramento; Gordon, Joelinton; Woltemade.
This is how the Premier League table looks after that Villa result.
Premier League result: Aston Villa 3-1 Fulham
The Newcastle view
“Things were looking promising,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “We had just won a trophy. The wild magpies that I’ve adopted as pets (nickamed Big ‘Al and Eddie) were literally eating out of my hand. Newcastle had a recognised striker.
“Then the other bloke left. And of the two replacement strikers we purchased, one is crocked and the other one isn’t really a striker, apparently.
“And now the magpies think I’m some sort of threat owing to a recent misunderstanding with the dog (see: Bournemouth MBM). I checked the backyard today and they were circling, ready to swoop.
“So if Mikel Arteta thinks he has problems then I’d like to see him survive an Australian spring with a nest of pi$$ed-off, pumped-up, swoop-ready magpies nearby.”
The Newcastle front six today looks really strong to admittedly dead eyes, so I wouldn’t be too worried about them despite the frustrations of PSR and the Swedish striker.
I’m less confident your magpie dispute will have a happy ending. Those buggers can’t be reasoned with.
‘I would love it’, etc.
Read Jonathan Wilson on Newcastle
Note to trolls, keyboard warriors and Messrs Angry: I did not write this piece, nor have I read it.
Newcastle team news
Eddie Howe also makes three changes from the last league game, a goalless draw at Bournemouth in Newcastle’s case. Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Anthony Gordon – who all played against Bradford in the Carabao Cup in midweek – start ahead of the Lewises, Hall and Miley, and Joe Willock.
Newcastle (4-3-3) Pope; Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Woltemade, Gordon.
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Trippier, Lascelles, Barnes, Krafth, Osula, Elanga, Willock, Miley.
Arsenal team news
The handbrake is off! Ish. Eberechi Eze replaces Mikel Merino in the Arsenal midfield, one of three changes from the notorious Emirates XI that started against Manchester City. Bukayo Saka starts in place cof the injured Noni Madueke. The other change is at the back, where Cristhian Mosquera replaces William Saliba. You’d imagine that’s injury-related, though Saliba is on the bench.
Arsenal (4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Calafiori; Eze, Zubimendi, Rice; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Substitutes: Arrizabalaga, Saliba, Lewis-Skelly, White, Odegaard, Norgaard, Merino, Martinelli, Dowman.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to Handbrake Watch, a new series in which the Guardian’s finest minds we assess and judge Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach. Arteta, whose Arsenal side visit Newcastle today, was heavily criticised for picking a cautious XI against Manchester City last week. He added more grist to the news cycle by rejecting those criticisms, so there will be plenty of scrutiny on his XI today. Maybe even the football itself?!?!?!
Yesterday’s results have taken some of the focus away from Arteta and Arsenal – partly because other managers are back in the doghouse, mainly because Crystal Palace, lovely, life-affirming Crystal Palace, beat Liverpool at Selhurst Park. Arsenal will jump from seventh to to second, two points behind Liverpool, if they win today.
Not that it’ll be easy. They’ve lost their last three games at St James’ Park without scoring, and few things invigorate the Newcastle crowd quite like a visit from Arsenal. Newcastle’s need for a win is just as great. They are 15th after a largely quiet start to the season – on the field, if not off it.
If recent games between Newcastle and Arsenal are a guide, this won’t be high-scoring. But it’ll be eventful, probably a bit spiteful, and there’s a chance one of the managers will be spewing come 7pm.
Kick off 4.30pm.
