1 hour ago
8
Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
61 min It’s hard to believe that the almost spine-tingling euphoria of Max Dowman’s goal against Everton was only three league games ago. The Emirates is a completely different place now.
58 min Burn is booked for fouling Gyokeres just outside the area on the right. Arsenal need a second goal because right now the Emirates is an angst-ridden place.
Madueke’s free-kick is cleared.
56 min In my lifetime, when Arsenal have won the league they have generally romped to glory. They won 10 in a row at the back end of 1997-98 and 13 in a row in 2001-01; they lost one game all season in 1990-91 and none in 2003-04.
The one time they really struggled with nerves was the most famous of all, 1988-89. Arsenal had two wobbles, one in February and March and another in May, that looked set to cost them the title. We all know how that story ended.
55 min A dangerous free-kick from Rice flashes across the face of goal. The offside flag went up against Hincapie, though it was very tight. No matter.
53 min: Arsenal substitution The goalscorer Eberechi Eze is leaving the field with what looks like a muscle injury. Gabriel Martinelli replaces him.
51 min Lots of Newcastle possession in the Arsenal half. Miley’s deep cross is controlled beyond the far post by Jacob Ramsey, who clips a cross that is headed away.
49 min No fast start to the second half from Arsenal. It’s fascinating that their best, most uninhibited performance of recent weeks came in the toughest game of the lot last weekend. They’re showing us the life of the mind.
47 min “A free-kick conceded by Saliba (42 mins) didn’t lead anywhere?” writes Matt Dony. “William, It Was Really Nothing.”
46 min Joe Willock has the first kick of the second half, an almost Brobdingnagian second half for Arsenal.
Suzanne Wrack
Half-time reading
Olivia Smith is tentatively laying down roots but remains alert to the changes that can be produced by football. The 21-year-old Arsenal forward, who has nine goals and three assists in her first season in north London, has lived a nomadic football life, driven by a desire to continuously improve and move up the ladder, rung by rung, without a pause.
As the season reaches its climax, a Champions League semi-final against Lyon on Sunday is testament to how far up the ladder Smith has climbed. Now, she is heading towards unknown territory: a second season at the same club for the first time in her senior career.
“I do feel quite calm now, knowing that I have set down some roots here, but at the end of the day, football is football and you never know what’s next,” she says. “So I’m always on my toes but, right now, I’m kind of laid-back, just enjoying the time here in the present with Arsenal and looking forward to winning more silverware and growing as a player and a person.”
Half time: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle
The end of a first half in which Arsenal were nervous and passive – except when Eberechi Eze was putting them ahead with a typically charming goal. A crucial second half awaits.
45+1 min Three minutes of added time.
45 min Burger, chips and a beer costs almost £20 at the Emirates Stadium. But fingernails come for free and thousands of Arsenal fans are munching on them instead. Even though they are leading, the nervousness has grown incrementally throughout the first half.
43 min Since Eze’s goal, Newcastle have had eight shots to Arsenal one. Most have been off-target but it’s a reflection of a slightly passive performance from Arsenal.
42 min Bruno Guimaraes, the dominant figure in the midfield battle so far, is fouled 35 yards from goal by Saliba. He takes the free-kick shot to Tonali, whose long-range shot is repelled on the edge of the area.
39 min Next goal’s a big one. If Arsenal score it, they could give their goal difference a lovely deep tissue massage. If Newcastle get it…
38 min Dan Burn tries an off-balance chest-volley from the edge of the area. No.
36 min There was some good analysis on Sky (no, really, Roy) during that injury break. In essence, Arsenal have barely taken a short corner all season, then they took three in a row that led to Eze’s goal. The Jovercraft strikes again.
34 min: Arsenal substitution Havertz walks sadly down the tunnel to be replaced by VG.
33 min Kai Havertz is down with what looks like a groin problem. Viktor Gyokeres is warming up.
32 min “Le Tissier and Eze is an excellent comparison,” writes Matt Dony. “Except Eze hasn’t blocked me on Twitter. Yet.”
29 min: Good save by Raya!
Arsenal have been better in possession in the last five minutes or so. The roles have been reversed, with Newcastle a winner a corner on the left. Bruno’s inswinger is cleared as far as Tonali, who hits a wobbling snapshot from 25 yards that is beaten away by Raya. That’s a pretty good save. Raya made life difficult for himself by slightly misjudging the line of the shot, but it also swerved and he reacted smartly to change direction and get down to his left.
28 min “I’ve got to disagree with the esteemed Peter Oh’s choice of a Smiths anthem for Arsenal fans,” begins Justin Kavanagh. “Surely it’s got to be Stop Me If Think You’ve Heard This One Before?”
How about A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours?
26 min A nice move from Arsenal. Madueke zips infield from the right and pushes a pass into the area for Odegaard. He flicks the ball behind his standing leg towards the onrushing Zubimendi, but there are a lot of Newcastle defenders around and the danger is cleared.
24 min Bruno’s free-kick from the left is headed away to Ramsey on the edge of the area. His instinctive volley, taken at an awkward height, swerves well wide of the far post.
Arsenal need to be careful; they’ve been surprisingly passive so far.
20 min Madueke has a shot blocked after a useful Arsenal transition. It’s a bit of a strange game – Newcastle have had almost 60 per cent possession.
19 min Willock, who has made a lively start after his old club, lifts a curling shot from the edge of the area that is too close to Raya.
17 min The Arsenal goal has yet to change the mood. Newcastle are dominating possession, though they haven’t got behind the defence that Osula chance.
14 min In some ways, Eberechi Eze is the Matt Le Tissier of his day. He’s got the skill, the languor, the near universal popularity. And, most of all, the portfolio of absolute belters.
12 min Newcastle had been the better, more relaxed team until Arsenal starting racking up corners. It’ll be interesting to see whether that goal changes the mood as well as the scoreline.
Arsenal varied the previous short corners, with Odegaard making a dummy run towards the ball before Madueke slid a crisp pass into Havertz on the right side of the area. He laid the ball back to Eze, who curled a nonchalant beauty into the far corner with his right foot. Lovely goal.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Eze 9)
Madueke scampers into the area and draws an important sliding tackle from Thiaw. That means another corner to Arsenal – and this time it leads to a brilliant goal!
8 min Another short corner ends with Eze, 25 yards out, cracking a left-foot shot wide of the near post. Pope had it covered.
7 min Arsenal take a short corner and make a Horlicks of it, but they win another 20 seconds later.
6 min Newcastle have started well, Arsenal have not. But they win their first corner when Havertz’s cross on the turn hits a Newcastle defender and goes behind.
4 min Newcastle win the ball high up the field. Thiaw’s clever flick finds Tonali, who lays the ball square to Bruno Guimaraes. He slaps a shot over the bar from 20 yards. A good effort but Raya had it covered.
3 min It was Joe Willock who made that chance for Osula, running at a backpedalling defence before poking a good pass down the side.
Newcastle have started in a 4-3-3 with Miley and Burn at full-back, Jacob Ramsey as the left-sided forward and Willock playing in midfield.
2 min “Popcorn sales,” begins Charles Antaki. “Well, you might be right, at least for the neutral, or indeed for the odd fan or two who may disdain City or Arsenal equally (crazy, I know). The well-prepared armchair Arsenal fan will make sure the coffee table is fully stocked with prescription drugs of the calming variety, with, on the shelf below, a pile of holiday brochures to take their mind off what will probably be a parade of unhappy images unspooling in front of them. Still, chin up for the moment.”
1 min A chance for Newcastle inside 20 seconds! Osula scorches away from Saliba and into the area, only to hack at fresh air and fall over when attempting to shoot. Replays show that the ball touched his standing foot, the right, as he shaped to shoot with his left. That’s why he ended up in a heap.
1 min Peep peep! Arsenal kick off from left to right as we watch.
The players emerge from the bowels of the Emirates on a bright spring evening in north London. This is the first of two games that Arsenal will play before City’s next Premier League match; the other is at home to Fulham this time next week. Before that, they have some semi-final to play in Madrid.
Eddie Howe speaks to Sky Sports
[On the return of Bruno Guimaraes to the starting XI] He’s such an important player for uys. He’s got the bravery to get on the ball, the creativity we’ve missed. We’ll have to manage him – I’m not sure he can play 90 minutes – but we’re really pleased to see him back.
[On making five changes, including the goalkeeper] We’ve tweaked things to try to improve the performance. Nick [Pope] is an experienced goalkeeper, Aaron [Ramsdale]’s not really very well. With the other changes, there’s also a consideration of the opposition we’re facing.
“As an Arsenal fan, I know cruel fate would never let me be free by finishing us off early; we must suffer til the last day,” weeps Zach Neeley. “So in zen-like fashion, I am free until then because if we lose so will City just to mess with us. Ohm(y god I hate this).”
Mikel Arteta’s pre-match thoughts
[On making only one change from the City game] We did a lot of great things, with some connections that we really liked througout the game.
[On how long Bukayo Saka might be able to play from the bench] We will see how the game goes. We have alternatives in the front line to change the game; we’ll use them in the right way.
[On the five-game sprint with City] We need to do everything that is in our hands. Play in the manner we have all season, with the same intensity, the same quality, the same commitment. We know what’s at stake so it doesn’t get much better than that.
[Does the situation give you freedom and clarity?] So much! Because all you can do is win game one. If we do that we are in a great position. We need a fast start.
The Premier League table
“The Smiths?” muses Peter Oh. “Well, if Newcastle win today, Arsenal fans will probably start humming I Know It’s Over.”
Let’s be honest: if Newcastle win today, Arsenal fans won’t be short of Smiths songs that capture the mood.
Bayern Munich, the team Arsenal may yet face in the Champions League final, have been involved in some Bundesliga hijinks this afternoon.
Some exclusive transfer news involving the team directly below Arsenal in the table
Manchester United have identified Éderson, the Atalanta midfielder, as a potential recruit to fill the gap left by Casemiro’s summer departure, with the 26-year-old Brazilian valued at €40m-50m (£35m-£45m).
United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, is an admirer of Éderson and is monitoring the Brazil international after drawing up a list of potential replacements for Casemiro.
Jonathan Liew begins his new series of Smiths-themed columns with a look at life in north London.
(Next week, he asks whether the ghost of Troubled Jô is haunting Everton’s centre-forwards.)
Newcastle’s formation could be the usual 4-3-3, something like this: Pope; Miley, Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Bruno Guimaraes, Tonali, Ramsey; J Murphy, Osula, Willock.
Team news
Ben White replaces Cristhian Mosquera at right-back, Arsenal’s only change from their defeat at the Etihad. Bukayo Saka is on a star-studded subs bench.
Eddie Howe has made five changes in an attempt to end Newcastle’s poor run of form. Nick Pope, Dan Burn, Joe Willock, Jacob Murphy and Bruno Guimaraes come in for Aaron Ramsdale, Tino Livramento (injured), Lewis Hall, Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes.
Newcastle’s side includes five recognised central midfielders. They often switch to a back three away to the top teams, but I’m not entirely sure how that would work with this XI. Answers on a pigeon.
Arsenal (4-3-3) David Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Hincapie; Odegaard, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Havertz, Eze.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli, Gyokeres, Trossard, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman.
Newcastle (possible 3-4-2-1) Pope; Thiaw, Botman, Burn; J Murphy, Bruno Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley; Ramsey, Willock; Osula.
Subs: Ramsdale, Trippier, Hall, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Woltemade, A Murphy, Neave.
Referee Sam Barrott.
We’ll have the team news shortly. In the meantime, here’s some positive squad news for Arsenal fans.
Preamble
The Little Increasingly Hefty Book of Football Cliches tells us the Premier League is a marathon, not a sprint. Wrong! These days, it tends to be both. In his first spell at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho unwittingly shared the groundbreaking insight that points won in August counted the same as those earned in April and May. Aspiring champions emerged from the blocks accordingly and it became normal for the best teams to reach 90 points in a 38-game season. On one glorious occasion, they hit three figures.
The best Arsenal and Manchester City can manage this year is 85 points. They haven’t been good enough to sprint all season – at times it’s been an old-fashioned slog – but now it’s time for one of the teams to open their legs andir class. The title race is effectively a five-game mini-league, with Arsenal and City level on points and goal difference. City are top of the table because they have scored three goals more than Arsenal.
Both teams have won league titles by the barest of margins. The impossible drama of Michael Thomas and Sergio Aguero’s goals in 1989 and 2012 respectively has understandably obscures some of the detail. City beat Manchester United on goal difference when Aguero scored against QPR. And when Thomas flicked the ball over Bruce Grobbelaar with indecent serenity, Boring Boring Arsenal finish above Liverpool on goals scored.
It may not come down to goal difference this year, never mind goals scored. Both teams have tough away games in the run-in; the chances are one of them will drop points. Equally, it should surprise nobody if they win the lot If that happens, popcorn sales will go through the roof because we have never seen that kind of extended goal-difference shoot-out in an English title race.
It would be negligent for either team to ignore the table and coast through the last quarter of a game in which they are, say, 2-0 up. But it’s an awkward situation: to think of goal difference before a game can imply or reveal complacency, and it goes against the footballer’s sworn promise – one that would never, ever register on a lie detector – to stay humble.
The attitude to goal difference may also be shaped by recent form. Right now, Arsenal just need to beat Newcastle at the Emirates to keep their destiny in their own hands and end a short but punishing run of two straight defeats. If they drop points tonight, the Book of Football Cliches will throw up a different metaphor: the one about the horse race.
Kick off 5.30pm.
