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MOTD: Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle United

By on December 13, 2014

Arsenal rediscovered what they have lacked so far this season – a clinical forward up front in Olivier Giroud. Going forward today, they penetrated multiple channels, from the wings to the middle. Arsene Wenger’s side looked versatile and well-stocked up front, despite missing four starting midfielders due to injury. They looked confident, though some of the same old worry lines still exist. They were cruising to a win against a Newcastle United side that hardly had any potency going forward previously, but then let in a completely stoppable goal from a set-piece. Though they throughly deserved the win, it is easy to imagine how a slightly less confident Arsenal might have faltered — like in 2010 when the side gave up a 4-0 lead against this same Newcastle. If Newcastle had found another way to score when the match was at 3-1, those nerves could have reemerged.

But this is looking at the glass half-empty. If anything, today’s win says loads about Arsenal’s confidence in that Wenger’s men responded by finding a fourth goal to close out the match. Thus they kept the three points, and at the same time seem to be beating back their old demons. Wenger himself summed up the mood at Arsenal: “My job is to win football games and when we don’t, I can understand why they aren’t happy.” Arsenal are at the point where care slightly less about how they get it, they just want the three points. If they ever reach full strength this season, they might have the luxury to emphasize both style as well as substance.

From the start today, it wasn’t just Alexis Sanchez who got them going. Hector Bellerin, Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla, and Olivier Giroud all put in good shifts. At the back they could have been better, pardoned in part by their ongoing injury crisis, but it was Per Mertesacker who nearly put The Gunners up just eight minutes in. The German rose up at the near post of an out swinging Sanchez corner, which he flicked onto the underside of the crossbar. Arsenal were all over Newcastle – Alan Pardew’s side could hardly get out of their own half – and there was no surprise when The Gunners took the lead five minutes later, as Bellerin cut off a Newcastle pass, spread the play out wide right to Sanchez, who curled a brilliant cross right into the middle where Giroud rose up to smack an unstoppable header into the top right corner. It was this combination for Arsenal so often – Giroud and Welbeck could finish the perfect crosses Sanchez sent them.

Sixteen minutes in, Welbeck did put the ball in the back of the net, only to be called offside. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s only chance of note in the first half Arsenal did well to clear, with Wojciech Szczesny getting low to first stop Yoan Gouffran’s header and Papisse Demba Cisse’s follow up. The majority of the match was played at the other end, though, and with Giroud heading Sanchez’s cross over forty-two minutes in and Cazorla curling wide, Arsenal were unlucky not to have at least a two goal lead by the half.

Critically for Arsenal, they did not falter at that point. At a crucial time fifty-four minutes in, Sanchez slipped Cazorla in down the left side of the box via a smart reverse ball. Finally, Arsenal seemed able to finish for the first time all season – Cazorla dinked a beautiful shot over the goalkeeper Jak Alnwick. Just three minutes later, in fact, Arsenal found a third before the match even struck the hour mark, which they had not scored before in any of their previous ten goals. Bellerin got down the right and slid a low cross right to Giroud, who somehow managed to twist his body as to poke a cheeky outside of the boot finish at the near post in off the crossbar.

As mentioned, Arsenal let Ayoze Perez break free and send Jack Coleback’s crossed free-kick into the bottom right corner with a diving header. It was just an hour in, leaving plenty of time for a comeback, yet Arsenal struck Newcastle back down. Mathieu Flamini and Kieran Gibbs both came close, before Paul Dummett bundled Welbeck down in the box late on. Cazorla bagged the penalty with a panenka, a festive top that summed up the night.
Man of the Match: Alexis Sanchez

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.