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Anthony Gordon scored the game-winning goal in the second half to secure a 1-0 victory for Newcastle over Arsenal. This ended Arsenal’s undefeated start in the Premier League at St James’ Park.
After a thorough review by VAR, Gordon’s goal from close range was deemed valid and ultimately determined the outcome of the match as the two teams struggled to create opportunities.
The Gunners suffered their initial loss in 11 league matches this season, while Newcastle’s win proved they can compete with top teams.
Arsenal remain third in the table, two points behind new leaders Manchester City, with Newcastle four points adrift in sixth.
Following a rough start in the first 15 minutes, Arsenal gained traction and began to gain momentum. However, despite earning multiple corners, they only had Jorginho’s missed volley and William Saliba’s off-target header to show for their attempts.
In the 29th minute, Callum Wilson missed an opportunity to score for Newcastle as he shot over the crossbar from a knockdown by Dan Burns. Prior to this, Newcastle had not posed much of a threat.
The first half of the game was highly physical and lacked finesse, with many rough tackles being made. One particular challenge from Kai Havertz caused the home fans to become very excited as Sean Longstaff was knocked down.
This caused a chaotic brawl among the players, which took referee Stuart Atwell a while to manage. Eventually, Havertz, Longstaff, and Anthony Gordon were given yellow cards.
Newcastle’s assistant coach, Jason Tindall, expressed his anger to the Arsenal team about Havertz’s poorly timed tackle.
Fabian Schar, another player from Newcastle, received a booking shortly after, much to the dissatisfaction of Magpies supporters.
Just before half-time, Arsenal posed a threat, but Nick Pope easily caught Gabriel Martinelli’s powerful shot.
After the game resumed, Gordon energized the home crowd by darting around the perimeter of Arsenal’s penalty area in an attempt to create an opportunity for a shot. However, he was met with heavy pressure from defenders.
Declan Rice started playing a bigger role for the Gunners and he narrowly missed a header before Newcastle scored the first goal in the 64th minute.
Both replacements played a role in the goal shortly after being subbed into the game. Jacob Murphy’s shot missed the goal but was kept in play by Joe Willock. He then crossed the ball, which was headed down by Joelinton for Gordon to score.
There was a significant pause after which the goal was officially deemed valid as VAR reviewed if Willock’s cross had crossed the boundary, if Joelinton had committed a foul against Arsenal’s Gabriel, and if Gordon was in an offside position.
Newcastle received unfortunate news when Murphy injured his shoulder again, the same one that had caused him to miss previous games. He was substituted by Matt Ritchie.
The Gunners attempted to score a tying goal, but their offense consistently failed to execute, resulting in no additional opportunities on a disappointing afternoon for the team from north London.
Source: independent.co.uk
