Arsenal rout Newcastle, run Premier League unbeaten streak to 5 matches
London, Jan 18 (efe-epa).- Arsenal trounced lowly Newcastle United 3-0 here Monday night to run their unbeaten streak in the Premier League to five games and enter the top 10 of the standings.
With their victory at Emirates Stadium in London, Mikel Arteta’s men continued their bounce-back from a dismal season start and have now won four of their last five matches in that competition and not given up a single goal since their 3-1 victory over Chelsea on Dec. 26.
Arsenal also recovered the attacking efficiency that had gone missing in their previous English-league contest against Crystal Palace, who visited the Gunners last Thursday and played them to a scoreless draw.
After neither team produced a shot on goal in the early going, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang missed a golden opportunity to score in the 16th minute when he was unable to set his feet for a pass across the goal mouth by Buyako Saka.
Newcastle’s goalie was out of the picture, but Aubameyang hit the far post with a shot from a tight angle.
Arsenal dominated possession throughout the first half but, other than the missed chance by their star Gabonese forward, created little danger in the final third.
That all changed after the intermission.
Aubameyang put the Magpies’ net minder, Karl Darlow, to the test with a shot in the 47th minute and then opened the scoring at the 50-minute mark when he received a pass from former Atletico Madrid standout Thomas Partey and scored with a shot inside the near post.
The lead opened up more space for the Gunners, and that led to a goal in the 60th minute in which Emile Rowe Smith drew defenders to him in the box and then assisted on a strike by Saka.
Aubameyang added one more goal in the 77th minute off a pass from Cedric Soares, who earned his assist after doing well to keep possession of the ball near the byline.
Afterward, the Portuguese right back spoke about the Gunners’ improvements in defense since the start of the 2020-2021 season.
“We were improving this side as well since the beginning. This is the result when we work as a unit, from the first man in front until the goalkeeper. We all work hard for this clean sheet as well. It’s not just the defenders. It’s the whole team,” Soares said afterward. “And I think, again, we were on our front foot. We were ready to press all the time. We knew the moments and we were smart as well. This is part of football, so we did our job.”
With their latest win, Arsenal (27 points) moved up to 10th place in the Premier League, are now just six points behind fifth-place Tottenham and can start to realistically target a spot in Europe next season.
Newcastle (19 points), by contrast, are still seven points clear of the drop zone but are now winless in their last seven Premier League matches. EFE-EPA
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