Arsenal Ratings vs. Newcastle: Huge Win Soured by Double Injury Scare

The Gunners regained their status as Premier League leaders (just) but may have lost two key forwards.

The game was painted a particular shade of Eberechi Eze (center). | Mark Leech/Offside/Getty Images

LONDON — Eberechi Eze’s wonder goal earned Arsenal a crucial 1–0 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday evening with a set of three points which came with two caveats.

The two players who combined for the game’s only goal both hobbled off the pitch within the first 55 minutes. Eze encouragingly took a seat on the bench but Kai Havertz made a beeline straight for the changing rooms after going down in the first half.

Arsenal only have four days to prepare for a trip to Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. With only a handful of matches remaining, Mikel Arteta threatened to have stumbled upon his first-choice frontline; the technically gifted trio of Eze, Havertz and Martin Ødegaard complemented by a direct outlet on the right wing. Now the Gunners are left to sweat on the fitness of half that lineup.

They can at least take solace from a return to the Premier League summit but the focus of north London will be split between Manchester and their own treatment room.

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The Moment That Defined the Match

Eberechi Eze opened the scoring with a brilliant goal. | Mark Leech/Offside/Getty Images

Arsenal may have come into Saturday’s fixture in second place for the first time since October, winless in the Premier League for six weeks and seemingly staring down the barrel of another near miss. Yet, there was a lightness around the place.

The streets of north London were teeming with Arsenal shirts throughout a sun-soaked morning and afternoon. Hope (and pollen) was in the air. London, collectively, is a much happier place when it has a bright blue bowl of sky plonked over it. People actually make eye contact on the Tube (but don’t get carried away and start a conversation—the weather’s not that nice).

Pep Guardiola put Manchester City’s strong spring form down to the reappearance of the sun and Arteta claimed that his side have benefitted from a bit of vitamin D. ”The energy has been so good,” he beamed ahead of kickoff, “the weather has helped as well. So much has been beautiful.” Eze’s sweet hit fell into that category.

There are few stadiums which cheer the award of a corner as loudly as the Emirates. Arsenal won three in rapid succession yet the first two drew groans as Noni Madueke rolled each short to Ødegaard with no success. The collective moan which formed as the Norwegian skipper ran to collect a third pass got caught in the throat as Madueke instead punched the ball into Havertz.

Unmarked inside the box, the German forward delivered a deft prod for Eze to run onto, whipping a finish with easy power right into the top corner.

Neither Havertz nor Eze would make it to the hour mark and Arsenal created little of note in their absence. In truth, the hosts started focusing on the clock pretty much as soon as they took the lead, eventually forcing through a win against their woefully out-of-form visitors in not entirely convincing circumstances.

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Arsenal Player Ratings vs. Newcastle (4-2-3-1)

Arsenal didn’t need much motivation for Saturday’s clash. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: David Raya—7.9: They say that comparison is the thief of joy but Raya comes out very favorably when opposite Newcastle’s Nick Pope. While every sequence of Newcastle possession dies at the feet of their nervy No. 1, Raya is arguably Arsenal’s calmest passer.

RB: Ben White—7.1: Pushed up very aggressively on Jacob Ramsey, draping himself over his neck like a tattooed and well-tanned scarf.

CB: William Saliba—7.4: Playing against Will Osula is a unique challenge. The gangly forward spends so much of every contest fighting to control his own long legs that the sporadic moments of skill come as a complete surprise. Saliba was befuddled on multiple occasions.

CB: Gabriel—7.2: Solid if unspectacular in a sturdy display.

LB: Piero Hincapié—8.0: Even in a team with the best defensive record in the division, Hincapié stands out as the defender’s defender, reveling in every scrappy collision and block.

CM: Martín Zubimendi—7.8: The most flexible of a fluid midfield which swapped positions, both vertically and laterally, to try and find a way through Newcastle’s press.

CM: Declan Rice—6.7: “It’s not over,” Rice declared after last weekend’s loss to Manchester City. The England international certainly played as though he believed.

AM: Martin Ødegaard—7.5: The Emirates is never far from a pang of angst these days but everything seems to calm down when Ødegaard has the ball.

RW: Noni Madueke—6.4: Rapidly established he had the beating of Dan Burn and Sven Botman for speed but seemed to have no confidence in his shots, invariably scuffing each effort.

ST: Kai Havertz—7.1: Lasted little more than half an hour before trudging straight down the tunnel with a crestfallen expression. He was probably thinking about his involvement for the rest of the season and the World Cup, but a mental review of his first touch across the opening 33 minutes would have inspired the same look of distress.

LW: Eberechi Eze—7.7: Arsenal’s much-needed maverick enjoyed one of his finest performances of the season. Putting aside his stunning strike, Eze peppered the contest with mischievous little flicks around the corner, impish nutmegs and the sort of dummies which inspired a sharpened edge of ill-will in the opposition.

SUB: Viktor Gyökeres (34’ for Havertz)—6.2: The burly Swede seems allergic to the ball, batting it away as soon as it came anywhere near him.

SUB: Gabriel Martinelli (53’ for Eze)—6.4: Backwards passes can get a bad rap but sometimes they can reset the rhythm of a move. When a player abruptly stops running towards goal to spin around and timidly roll the ball backwards, the frustration they inspire is understandable.

SUB: Myles Lewis-Skelly (80’ for Zubimendi)—N/A

SUB: Bukayo Saka (81’ for Madueke)—N/A

Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga (GK), Cristhian Mosquera, Max Dowman, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard.

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What the Ratings Tell Us

Kai Havertz got the assist for Arsenal’s opener before he was forced off against Newcastle. | Izzy Poles-AMA/Getty Images

• While it was no great showing from Havertz, his brand of subtlety and craft will be sorely missed should the striker face an extended spell on the sidelines. “It’s not about comparing,” Arteta warned when Gyökeres was held up against Havertz, “it’s having two very different profiles.” One appears to be much better suited to soothing this nervy iteration of the Gunners.
• Eze also left the pitch after receiving medical treatment, although without the same sense of severity as Havertz, to a deservedly warm reception. Arsenal’s No. 10 only completed five passes during his 53 minutes on the pitch yet still served as his side’s overwhelming protagonist; Eze opened up more space by letting the ball roll through his legs than most of his teammates could manage while in possession. Any sustained absence would be a major blow.

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The Numbers That Explain Arsenal’s Scratchy Win

• Arsenal played six short corners across the first 33 Premier League games of the season. Eze’s goal came from a third short delivery in the space of nine minutes.
• Nicolas Jover, the hosts’ set-piece coach, has undoubtedly earned his money. Arsenal set the all-time single season Premier League record for total goals (17) and opening goals (10) from corners on Saturday, per Opta.
• Newcastle racked up 13 shots, more than Arsenal have conceded in any Premier League game at the Emirates all season. The Magpies dominated the first half in terms of chances, forcing a particularly good save out of Raya from Sandro Tonali. There was less action at either end after the interval, yet the visitors still carved out the game’s best opening only for Yoane Wissa to blaze over from eight yards out.

Statistic	Arsenal	Newcastle
Possession	45%	55%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.64	0.91
Total Shots	11	13
Shots on Target	4	3
Big Chances	0	2
Passing Accuracy	81%	85%
Fouls Committed	13	10
Corners	7	2

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