“We’re not happy, but I’m not concerned because I know my team really well,” said Newcastle’s manager. “We’ve been close, but now we have to make the difference in the final third.”
Midway through an initially awkward afternoon, Unai Emery was quite possibly bracing himself for the sort of uncomfortable post‑match scrutiny with which Arsène Wenger eventually became so wearily familiar.
Emery’s Arsenal ended the first half seemingly barely able to string two passes together and apparently struggling to embrace their new philosophy of advancing with intricacy right from the very back.
With Newcastle United pressing their guests into flustered submission, Rafael Benítez was winning his battle of wits with Wenger’s successor.
Yet as good as Benítez’s tactical plan appeared, he lacked a striker sufficiently predatory to polish off Matt Ritchie’s stellar crosses and his playmaker Jonjo Shelvey was only fit enough for the bench.
The scene was consequently set for Granit Xhaka to secure an ultimately restorative win by reminding everyone that a moment’s inspiration is sometimes all it takes to undo any amount of perspiration.
“We’re not happy, but I’m not concerned because I know my team really well,” said Newcastle’s manager. “We’ve been close, but now we have to make the difference in the final third.”
Emery agreed it had been a chameleon-style Arsenal performance. “In the first half, we couldn’t control the match,” he acknowledged. “We couldn’t impose our ideas and we conceded a lot of counterattacking chances. The key was the first goal, but maybe Lucas gave us better balance.”
Early-season top-tier statistics indicate that no goalkeeper has been more involved with his feet than Petr Cech but, despite this win, Emery’s commitment to playing out from the back remains a work in progress.
Accordingly, Cech and his defence frequently looked hesitant as Newcastle bombarded their box.
In marked contrast, Benítez’s side has played more long balls than anyone in the division – Neil Warnock’s Cardiff included – and have enjoyed the least possession of any team.
Such no-frills directness has, so far, hardly paid dividends, yet with the decibel level rising every time Mesut Özil was bundled unceremoniously off the ball, it initially seemed the ideal way to thoroughly faze Arsenal.
Yet, although Jacob Murphy’s diving header forced Cech into a splendid save, it tellingly represented the closest either side came to scoring during an opening half punctuated by the lack of a killer final ball. Murphy frequently accelerated behind Héctor Bellerín but he and his team-mates lacked the necessary subtlety to capitalise.
Reprieved, Emery replaced Mattéo Guendouzi with Lucas in the midfield holding role and, shortly afterwards, all Benítez’s homework – and his team’s hard work – went to waste, as Federico Fernández fouled Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Xhaka stepped forward to curl a free kick, which Martin Dubravka touched but could not hold, into the top right corner from considerable distance. Significantly it was the afternoon’s first shot on target.
The time had come for the suddenly influential Özil, liberated by Lucas’s arrival, to silence his doubters. When Alexandre Lacazette’s shot was blocked, the rebound fell for the German to apply the, typically accomplished, finishing touch.
Perhaps disrupted by the injury-induced loss of Jamaal Lascelles, Newcastle were unable to sustain their early energy. They could easily have fallen further behind before Clark’s stoppage-time header afforded the scoreline a semblance of respectability but provided zero Geordie consolation.
The Guardian/The Genius Media
