Arsenal have edged back on top in the title race after Eberechi Eze’s goal saw off Newcastle. With Manchester City engaged in an FA Cup semi-final, Arsenal took their chance. It has come down to a straight shootout.
Arsenal Respond After City Defeat
For Arsenal, the moment of truth began in the aftermath of last Sunday’s defeat at City. With a draw very much in the latter category, Arsenal scored.
The moment that decided it came in the ninth minute, when Eberechi Eze received the ball on the right edge of the area after Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz had worked a short corner. He made the calculations to curl first-time for the far top corner and pulled it off perfectly.
Arsenal needed to respond to the City defeat and the one they suffered before that in the Premier League, here against Bournemouth. They did so.
It was not pretty, the onus on grinding out the three points, and there were worries when Havertz and Eze were forced off with injuries. But the only thing that mattered was winning.
Newcastle’s Decent Performance
Newcastle arrived under a cloud, the consequence of a run of eight league defeats in 11, with uncertainty and dwindling confidence. It was a decent enough performance from them, certainly when set against some of those that had preceded it.
They defended well and, with their captain, Bruno Guimarães, back in the starting XI after a two-month injury lay-off, they were controlled in their buildup play. They might have nicked something when Yoane Wissa blew a gilt-edged chance on 80 minutes. When the board went up to show seven additional minutes, a fretful home crowd fretted some more. To them, the clean sheet was everything.
The Decisive Corner
Arsenal got it done. Mikel Arteta’s team had been good at City. They wanted to build on the positive aspects of the display and they felt their hopes soar when Eze scored.
The goal came from Arsenal’s third corner and the unusual thing was that they went short with all three. They had previously played just six short corners in the league all season.
When they shaped to do so with their second here, the home crowd howled. They wanted the ball to be curved in under the bar. The move ended with Eze dragging a shot off target. The fans needed to have faith. When Madueke played the third one low into Havertz, he turned it back to Eze and the finish was a beauty.
It was the prompt for Arsenal to sink back. The shot count at half-time was 9-3 in Newcastle’s favour, one from Sandro Tonali that swerved viciously almost catching out David Raya, and the atmosphere was subdued. Arsenal offered little in attacking terms.
For the Arsenal support there was joy after 90-plus minutes of pain.