This time there would be no ‘shame’ or ‘desgracia’. No option for FA charges that require a criminal defense attorney.
But 90 minutes of spite and guts from an Arsenal side determined to take revenge for the way this match ended in November.
They have certainly achieved this. Arsenal have long been accused of being too nice. A club with the kind of players who say sorry without having to say it as such. Not the kind capable of battling it out over a 38-game campaign. Mikel Arteta had said on Friday that such nastiness was not historically part of the club’s DNA.
Last night’s display shows that that side of the game suits them well. That will be necessary if they are to continue challenging for the title, as they extended their unbeaten league run to six – the first time in the club’s history – and trail leaders Liverpool by just two points.
They also scored fifteen goals in the last three league games. So much for the need for a striker in the January period.
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From the start the crowd screamed for retaliation and the Gunners were helpful, making tackles and combating Newcastle’s high line. Their opposition, especially in the first half, as expected, sat all the way back and tried to absorb the pressure.
Arteta’s tirade after Anthony Gordon’s winning goal, which has undergone three separate VAR checks, is likely to disappear into the Premier League archives. And it added to the maelstrom of the fight before kickoff.
When the first goal arrived, via North London’s preferred method of delivery, a corner, the route was clear.
Bukayo Saka’s corner, thrown through the mix, met Gabriel’s head. Loris Karius scored a good reflex, but Tino Livramento rebounded the ball on Sven Botman’s knee. Botman was stretched out on the ground.
Six minutes later the lead was doubled. Jorginho split the field open with a through ball to Gabriel Martinelli. He reached the byline and crossed to Kai Havertz, who was tagged.
Then the second half brought two more goals.
Revenge: a specialty Arteta is well versed in dishing it out even before the official start of the season.
Manchester City’s punishment for tripping the Gunners to the title last season was a penalty shootout defeat in the Community Shield in August, and a 1-0 league defeat in October.
Liverpool suffered a 3-1 defeat earlier this month after beating Arteta’s men in the FA Cup in January.
And then there was West Ham, a 6-0 thrashing after beating Arsenal twice earlier in the campaign.
The above sequence meant Newcastle knew the Emirates – the north London club have lost just once in the league here this season – would be a fortress. And on steroids, in light of how the last game between these two teams ended, clearly stayed fresh in the memory.
Arsenal welcomed Gabriel Jesus to the bench after he missed the last four games with a knee problem. It is a recurring problem he has had to deal with since the 2022 World Cup. His team hopes he’s back for good this time.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Thomas Partey, who have not played for the Gunners since October, were not ready to return and missed out on selection.
Karius was in goal for Newcastle. He had not started since the Carabao Cup final 12 months ago. A fixture that you should come for. There was also the boost from striker Alexander Isak returning from injury, with the attacking burden falling to Gordon of late.
The match resumed immediately from the last match on November 4. The crowd roared when Havertz finished Fabian Schar in the opening minutes, and Martin Odegaard also left his mark with his tackles.
In Odegaard’s case, he was a little too excited and was shown a yellow card after just seven minutes for Miguel Almiron’s clatter.
In a week where Arteta talked about educating his men in the dark arts, you wondered if the switch from nice to streetwise would be made.
In the initial stages you could feel it being pressed with some force. When Gabriel’s header found its way into the net off Botman’s knee, the deadlock and the match were broken open.
Havertz scored with a tap-in shortly afterwards and the traffic forward increased. Odegaard dropped Schar, resulting in a corner instead of a shot on target, and Saka’s cross was headed over by Martinelli.
Further attacks forward, including a Saka drive through three defenders and a shot off his weaker right foot that was parried, failed to result in a third goal at half-time.
The club from North London had the opportunities to do so and mainly wanted to put the match to bed after experiencing a few nerve-wracking finishes on their own field. But with no shots taken by the Magpies so far, the chance of danger seemed limited.
At the restart, despite all his hard work in the first period, Havertz should have finished the game within a minute.
Martinelli played him through and the German dragged the ball wide. He just had to beat Karius. A bad attempt.
Isak at the other end tried to round David Raya, but the goalkeeper did enough to deny him. It was a memory.
It didn’t matter in the end. Once Saka came in with his left foot, a bulge followed in the bottom left of the net.
Then, in the 69th minute, Jakub Kiwior scored a goal, his header going in off a Rice corner.
Isak scored a consolation goal in the 84th minute, but Arsenal’s league disaster continues for now.
