Key events
Arsenal are the Premier League runners-up once again – not mathematically, but you have my word. The last time they finished second three years in a row was between 1998 and 2001, and we all know what happened next.
A booming drive from Declan Rice was enough to see off Newcastle in an intriguing game between two excellent teams who both respect and dislike each other. After a nervous first half in which David Raya made three excellent saves, Arsenal went up a gear and dominated most of the second half. It got a bit tense towards the end but they held on to the three points, and to second place.
Full time: Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle
No red card, and the referee Simon Hooper blows the final whistle to ensure there isn’t any more nonsense.
90+8 min Kiwior and Burn are booked for their part in that scrum. There’s also a VAR check for a potential red card against somebody.
90+8 min Raya claims the corner and then players on both sides get involved in a rolling scrum in the six-yard box.. Dan Burn was involved, Raya and Osula as well. Given the recent history of these teams, I’m surprised it took so long.
90+7 min One last corner for Newcastle. Nick Pope is forward. Pope springs eternal and all that.
90+5 min: Chance for Newcastle! Gordon stands up a dangerous cross that Raya fails to hold as he comes through the crowd. The loose ball is helped in the general direction of goal and pushed away by Raya. That was the closest Newcastle have come in the second half.
90+5 min Now Havertz is booked for an arm to the face of Schar. He’s back!
90+4 min Willock is booked for dissent, as is Raya for delaying the restart.
90+3 min: Arsenal substitution Jorginho, who may also be off this summer, comes on for Martin Odegaard.
90+1 min Okay, there will be five minutes of added time.
90 min Martinelli gives Arsenal’s defence a breather by running at Livramento to win a corner. I can’t imagine there will be much added time.
88 min: Arsenal substitution Leandro Trossard is replaced by Kieran Tierney, who gets the chance to say farewell to the Emirates before his return to Celtic in the summer. He gets a lovely hand from the home fans.
85 min Another sustained spell of Newcastle pressure comes to nothing. They haven’t threatened enough in the second half, at least not yet.
83 min Willock moves purposefully into the area from the left, twists Ben White inside out but then blasts high and wide of the near post from a tight angle. Should’ve gone across goal.
82 min Arsenal are ceding territory for the first time in the second half. David Raya still hasn’t had a save to make, but the mood has changed.
81 min Mikel Arteta gets a yellow card for kicking the ball back onto the field of play while Newcastle were collecting a replacement ball to take a quick throw-in. He’ll be suspended at Southampton next week.
79 min Schar whacks the free-kick into the wall. It was in a very similar position to Declan Rice’s first goal against Real Madrid; this time Schar couldn’t get it round the outside.
78 min Tonali is fouled 25 yards from goal by Havertz. Newcastle are having a good spell, certainly when compared to the rest of the half. Schar and Tonali are over the free-kick…
76 min: Newcastle substitution Arsenal alumnus Joe Willock comes on for Harvey Barnes, who never looks as dangerous when he plays on the right.
76 min: Arsenal substitution Bukayo Saka is replaced by Kai Havertz, whose last game was the Carabao Cup semi-final at Newcastle on 5 February.
75 min: Chance for Barnes That was much better from Newcastle. Guimaraes plays a slick one-two with Osula on the edge of the area and squares to Barnes, who is slightly off balance and whips over the bar. Osula’s flicked return pass was lovely.
74 min Livramento’s cross is turned behind by Kiwior, who has had an excellent game. Guimaraes’s delivery is poor and Trossard uses his noggin to clear.
72 min Newcastle, so menacing before the break, have barely laid a glove on Arsenal in the second half.
69 min White, who has reminded everyone of his attacking threat today, rampages forward and pings a drive from 20 yards that flashes just wide of the far post. Fine effort.
69 min Arsenal will clinch second place if it stays like this. Newcastle would need to win at home to Everton to be sure of a Champions League place, though they could qualify even if they lose.
67 min Some second half statistics, and they all speak the truth.
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Possession Arsenal 73-27 Newcastle
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Shots Arsenal 5-0 Newcastle
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Goals Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle
66 min Newcastle’s best break of the half. A terrific reverse pass from Gordon releases Guimaraes on the left wing. He tries to find Osula with an early ball and Kiwior lunges in to make an important interception just outside the penalty area.
64 min Krafth immediately bundles Martinelli over and is booked. Arsenal questioned whether it was our friend Mr Dogso; it wasn’t.
64 min: Triple substitution for Newcastle Lewis Miley, Emil Krafth and William Osula come on for Jacob Murphy, Callum Wilson and Sven Botman. That suggests a switch to 4-3-3.
61 min Odegaard releases Saka in the inside-right channel. He moves into the area, then comes back on his left foot and scrapes a low shot across goal that is comfortably saved by the falling Pope.
58 min Arsenal have been well on top in the second half. As Gary Neville notes on Sky, for the second Sunday in a row they have been a different team after a half-time audience with Mikel Arteta.
Declan Rice had been unusually quiet – and you’ll notice the past tense because he has just put Arsenal idea with a storming goal. Gordon lost the ball in the final third to Saka, who found Odegaard on the right. He played a careful pass infield towards the onrushing, who smacked a curling first-time shot into the far corner from 25 yards. He hit it like a free-kick, except the ball was moving which made the shot harder to control. It’s a brilliant goal, one Rice wouldn’t have scored two or three months ago.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (Rice 55)
Pick it out.
51 min “Thanks for an MBM that can have me believe that perhaps today doesn’t have to end with Havertz coming on in the 60th minute and scoring an audacious own goal as his hamstring simultaneously explodes…” says Chris Finnegan. “Charles Antaki might be on to something with the Vicks on the shirt… Charles – I hear ya, fewer errors with Vieira-era aloe-vera guayaberas for peers to appear clearer. Ask Shearer.”
Those shirts would surely be de- more expensive to buy.
50 min Now Schar blocks Lewis-Skelly’s shot from 15 yards, an opportunity that Lewis-Skelly created for himself with a gorgeous turn on the edge of the area. For an 18-year-old left-back, his ability in central areas – particularly in the final third – is outrageous.
50 min Good early pressure from Arsenal, that corner notwithstanding. Martinelli’s volleyed cross from near the byline is cleared importantly by Schar in the six-yard box.
48 min Arsenal take a short corner and go all the way back to the goalkeeper. The home fans grumble accordingly.
47 min “Is Nick Pope on his way out of Newcastle?” asks Rú Hickson. “I generally don’t rely on LinkedIn for my football gossip, but Newcastle posted this job the other day.
“On further investigation, this is a post for a goalkeeping coach for the women’s team. But it’s a rather funny way of advertising it. Plus, I couldn’t resist the subject. Arf!”
46 min They’re off again. Calafiori is playing as the left-sided centre-back with Kiwior moving across.
Arsenal substitution Riccardo Calafiori is replacing William Saliba at half-time. You’d imagine that’s due to injury.
Half-time reading
This is a lovely piece, and the picture is outstanding.
Half time: Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle
An intriguing first half ends goalless. The best chances came in the first 20 minutes, when David Raya made three excellent saves to Nick Pope’s one. Arsenal made most of the running but were always wary of Newcastle’s counter-attacking menace. These teams might not love each other, but the tactical battle in the first half betrayed oodles of mutual respect.
45 min Apparently there will be no added time. What is this, 1987?
42 min The possession split is roughly 60/40 in Arsenal’s favour. it has felt more pronounced than that. The stats do support the perception that Newcastle have been the more dangerous team despite having less of the ball. They’ve had five shots on target to Arsenal’s two, 10 overall.
38 min Livramento, put through on goal by Botman, dithers a man caught trespassing and is well tackled on the edge of the area by Partey. Barnes then has a shot from 20 yards blocked at sourcee.
37 min Rice’s corner is cleared, denying us all the CONTROVERSY we CRAVE in every FOOTBALL match these days.
37 min Martinelli runs at Murphy to win another corner, although it looked like it should have been a goalkick. Either way, this is probably Arsenal’s best spell of sustained pressure.
