Arsenal scraped through at St.James' Park against Newcastle United with a 2-1 victory, which gives them a valuable three points away from home as they keep the pressure on second placed Manchester City. Arséne Wenger made a few alterations to the side which travelled to AS Monaco during midweek. Mesut Ozil was unavailable for selection due to illness, with Aaron Ramsey filling in a central midfield role. Per Mertesacker was rested for a 100% fit Gabriel who partnered captain for the day Laurent Koscielny, whilst David Ospina kept his place in goal.
It was definitely a game of two halves; the first-half deservedly belonged to the visitors whilst Newcastle dominated proceedings in the second 45 and were relatively unlucky not to equalise towards the end. Arsenal completely dominating the early going, but their lack of clinical finishing was frustrating to watch. In the 24th minute, Arsenal's in-form striker Olivier Giroud gave The Gunners the lead. Danny Welbeck flicked the ball on with a header from a Santi Cazorla set-piece which the French striker kneed away from Tim Krul in goal towards the near post. Just four minutes later, the visitors had a corner and Giroud battled past Mike Williamson to head his effort goalwards into the far corner of the net, an unstoppable finish - his eighth goal in six games against the Magpies.
As the half-time whistle blew, Arsenal were 2-0 up thanks to a Giroud brace, but could have had a five or six goal margin with the amount of goal-scoring opportunities they had. Newcastle came out strong in the second-half and immediately pulled a goal back in the 49th minute via captain for the day Moussa Sissoko; who has been transfer linked with a move to The Gunners in recent months. A brilliant passing move down the right flank and a low cross towards the edge of the area left the North London defense in shambles as Sissoko skillfully placed the ball towards the far post. Arsenal had virtually no respite throughout the second-half, but managed to hold out for the three points in the end, despite an onslaught of Newcastle chances from Ayoze Perez and Remy Cabella especially.
The second-half performance from the North London side would have given palpitations to any fan and surely they all heaved a huge sigh of relief at the final whistle. With only 8 rounds of matches left in the Premier League, Arsenal will need to win their remaining matches if they are to continue their march towards City’s coveted second spot.
At the post match press conference, Wenger was proud of his team coming away with three points after having to play three games within the week. He also heaped praise on his star striker calling him a fighter and stating that he’s improved technically. Newcastle’s caretaker manager John Carver was proud of the reaction his team came up with in the second-half. With eight games still to go Arsenal will be hoping they don’t lose the momentum and hope that they can finish second in the league, something which they haven’t done in quite a few seasons.