3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0

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The Mag

·3 November 2024

3 Positives and 3 Negatives to take from Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0

Saturday afternoon’s match ended Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0.

Ahead of each match we ask one of our writers to come up with three positives and three negatives following the game.

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Plenty to talk about after this one…

On this occasion it is The Armchair Fan:

POSITIVES

What a result!

Toon were crying out for a win having only achieved one in the past six league matches and what a way to get it!

Beating one of the title contenders with something to spare will do our confidence no end of good.

Wins over both Chelsea and Arsenal have the potential to provide the perfect springboard to revive our season.

Forest, West Ham and Palace in our next three matches will provide different challenges but there’s no reason why we can’t look to take maximum points and climb up the league table.

Great performance

The whole team did well throughout the match with each and every one of them doing their job.

Newcastle won every individual battle and the tactics were spot on.

Gordon and Willock looked dangerous going forward, Joelinton was back to terrorising the opposition, Isak scored a belting header and both Hall and Livramento were contenders for man of the match.

An excellent team performance that restricted the Gunners to hardly any real chances. We got the win and it was fully deserved.

Superb goal

That’s the type of goal I’d love to see us score week in, week out.

Working the ball out of central midfield and on to the wing before whipping it into the danger zone and smashing a header past the helpless ‘keeper – Marvellous! Shades of Asprilla v Barcelona with Gordon playing the Gillespie role to perfection.

Three goals in three games for Isak now, who is finding form after a difficult start to the campaign. That was my favourite goal of the season so far and I’d love to see more of the same next week.

NEGATIVES

Here’s the tricky bit! After a match like that, I really can’t think of anything to moan about. Can’t I pick three more positives instead? No, OK then, here goes:

Early kick off

I hate it when we start at 12.30. It really is the worst possible kick off time for a variety of reasons.

In this day and age of internet streaming, matches shouldn’t have to be moved for live TV. Every Premier League match should be available to legally buy as the technology is more than possible to facilitate it.

The rules of no live coverage at 3pm on a Saturday are no longer fit for purpose and need scrapping immediately.

An early kick off has never been fair on fans who travel long distances and in my experience, the lack of pre-match pints inevitably affects the atmosphere.

On the plus side, there was plenty of time to party after such a tremendous result for the Toon.

League table

NUFC have moved up to tenth in the Premier League but the briefest look at the table shows we’re only three points off the top four (unless Chelsea win at Man U).

It’s hard not to think of the five points we should have gained in the recent matches against Brighton and Everton that would have had us comfortably competing for a place in the Champions League.

It’s really tight right now with just six points separating third placed Nottingham Forest all the way down to Brentford in eleventh, which is why a good run of form is essential.

European football is definitely achievable this season if we can avoid dropping silly points, especially in matches where we’re the better team.

It could have been more

Any time the Toon are winning an important match by just the one goal, I can’t help but watch through my fingers with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

It would have done my blood pressure the world of good if Joe Willock had smashed home either of his chances at the start of the second half, or if Isak had managed to put us two goals to the good when his shot was saved.

Declan Rice headed just wide for Arsenal at the end of injury time and my heart was in my mouth waiting for the net to bulge. Thankfully he planted his header past the post, ensuring victory and three points for United.

Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0 – Saturday 2 November 12.30pm

Goals:

Newcastle United:

Isak 12

Arsenal:

Possession was Newcastle 36% Arsenal 64%

Total shots were Newcastle 9 Arsenal 10

Shots on target were Newcastle 4 Arsenal 1

Corners were Newcastle 4 Arsenal 6

Touches in the box Newcastle 17 Arsenal 32

Newcastle United team v Arsenal:

Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Bruno (Kelly 90+5), Willock (Tonali 65); Gordon (Barnes 85), Isak, Joelinton