Arsenal suffer first defeat of the season at Newcastle

• Newcastle United beat Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday to condemn the Gunners to their first Premier League defeat of the season
• Arsenal are third on the standings with 24 points, three behind league leaders and defending champions Manchester City

Newcastle United beat Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday evening to condemn the Gunners to their first Premier League defeat of the season. Anthony Gordon’s controversial second-half strike gave the Magpies victory over Arsenal in a feisty encounter at St. James’ Park.

Gordon scored in the 64th minute from close range after a goalmouth scramble. There was a VAR review that took four minutes six seconds to check if the ball had went out of play and whether Gordon was offside before the home fans could fully celebrate.

Newcastle United, who are unbeaten in their last seven league matches, climbed to sixth on 20 points after eleven matches. On the other hand, Arsenal are third on the standings with 24 points, three behind league leaders and defending champions Manchester City.

Eddie Howe was impressed with his side’s performance against Arsenal. Photo/ Shields Gazette.

Speaking after his side’s victory over Arsenal at St. James’ Park, Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe gave credit to his players for their performance.

“Tough game. Massive win. Full credit to the players for what they gave today, it was a battling performance.” Reuters quotes Eddie Howe.

Prior to Saturday’s fixture, Eddie Howe named the same side that started last weekend‘s 2-2 draw at Wolves in the Premier League. On the other hand, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta made three changes to the team that thrashed Sheffield United 5-0 last time.

Arsenal were without captain Martin Odegaard who was not fully fit to be included in the matchday squad. Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Emile Smith Rowe were replaced by Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jorginho.

The contest between Arsenal and Newcastle United took a while to ignite, with the visitors taking control of the match. Eddie Nketiah and William Saliba had chances to put Arsenal in front but their efforts went wide.

Callum Wilson then blazed a golden chance over the bar but would have been ruled out for offside anyway. The first half was full of emotions and former Chelsea man Kai Havertz was lucky to get a yellow card for his tackle on Sean Longstaff. Anthony Gordon, Longstaff and Fabian Schar were all booked for protesting the referee’s decision.

Bruno Guimaraes was also lucky not to see red for an off-the-ball forearm on Jorginho. The match settled down in the second half and Anthony Gordon eventually gave the home fans a reason to celebrate. The goal stood after a lengthy VAR check and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left fuming for the decision to allow the goal to stand.

Anthony Gordon scored the only goal of the match. Photo/ Football365.

“It’s a disgrace. It’s embarrassing. That’s how I feel and that’s how everybody feels in that [dressing] room. You cannot imagine the amount of messages we’ve got saying this cannot continue. It’s embarrassing. I’m sorry, embarrassing. I feel sick. That’s how I feel. I feel sick to be part of this. It is not good enough and we cannot accept that.” Mikel Arteta said after the match, as per Sky Sports.