Dominant Arsenal put four past Newcastle United in North London

Arsenal moved to within two points of Premier League leaders Liverpool courtesy of a 4-1 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday night.

A Sven Botman own goal sent Mikel Arteta‘s side on their way, before Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior registered, as the Gunners bounced back from their Champions League loss to Porto in true style.

Arsenal are third in the table, one point behind second-placed Manchester City and two from the leaders Liverpool in a fascinating title race, while Newcastle, who had a late consolation through Joe Willock, remain down in eighth, 10 points behind fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the battle for Champions League qualification.

Set-piece kings Arsenal sent Newcastle a couple of early warning-signs from corners, with the second of those seeing Ben White flick into a dangerous area; the ball eventually came for Saka on the edge of the penalty box, but he fired over under pressure.

Lorus Karius was between the sticks for Newcastle, with the 30-year-old making just his second-ever appearance for the Magpies and his first Premier League outing since May 2018 for Liverpool.

The goalkeeper’s first real work of the night came in the eighth minute, denying Saka after a strong period of possession from the home side, before making a better stop to keep out Declan Rice‘s strike two minutes later.

Arsenal made the breakthrough in the 18th minute of the contest, and it was an own goal from Botman, who turned into his own goal while on the ground after Karius had kept out a header from Gabriel.

The goal was a mess from Newcastle’s point of view, with the visitors having more than one chance to clear their lines, but the ball bobbled over the line to hand Arteta’s side the lead.

© Reuters

Arsenal then doubled their advantage in the 24th minute through Havertz, who fired a low cross from Gabriel Martinelli into the back of the net from close range.

Martinelli headed a Saka cross just over in the 31st minute, with the Gunners utterly dominant against a Newcastle side that were struggling to get out of their own half.

Karius made a smart save to keep out a strike from Saka in the 38th minute, and it was 2-0 to the hosts at the interval, with Newcastle still in the contest despite struggling for long stages of the opening 45 minutes.

Newcastle had a couple of half-chances early in the second period, but Alexander Isak was unable to get a shot away after rounding Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya, before the Spaniard kept out an effort from Anthony Gordon.

The Magpies were bright in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, but Arsenal scored a third in the 65th minute of the contest through Saka, who drilled the ball into the far corner of the net after collecting a pass from Havertz and driving into a dangerous position.

The Gunners then made it four in the 69th minute, with Kiwior flicking a corner from Rice into the back of the net to make it 19 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season for Arsenal.

Newcastle had one back late on through Willock, who headed a Dan Burn cross into the back of the net, but Arsenal closed out the final stages to secure yet another impressive Premier League success and almost made it five through Emile Smith Rowe in the final moments, only for Burn to clear off the line.

Arsenal will be bidding to make it seven league wins in a row when they head to Sheffield United on March 4, while Newcastle will now switch their attention to the FA Cup, preparing to visit Championship side Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round of the competition on Tuesday night.

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