Author – Amrit Santlani
Arsenal stayed alive in the Premier League title race and moved to within a point of leaders Manchester City after beating Newcastle United 2-0, although Pep Guardiola’s side played a game less. In another match on Sunday, Manchester United suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to West Ham after David de Gea’s mistake.
Odegaard and Martinelli help Arsenal stay close to Man City
With just 90 seconds on the clock after kick-off, Newcastle hit the post at St James’ Park after a promising counter-attack, although Jacob Murphy was unlucky to see his curling shot come back off the post.
Arteta’s side were given another scare in the 10th minute when the referee awarded a penalty after judging that Jakub Kiwior had handled a shot from Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães. However, VAR came to the visitors’ rescue as the decision was overturned.
Just four minutes later, Arsenal scored their first goal of the night through captain Martin Odegaard’s shot from outside the box. The Norwegian midfielder’s shot went between Sven Botman’s legs and into the goal before Nick Pope could react. An action-packed first half ended 1-0 to Arteta, thanks to some great saves from Pope and Aaron Ramsdale.
In the second half, Isak headed a shot against the post from inside the six-yard box, while Ramdsdale made another first-time save. Gabriel Martinelli helped the Gunners double their lead when Fabian Schar deflected the Brazilian’s cross into his own net.
Manchester United missed out on the chance to finish in the top four after a 0-1 defeat to West Ham
Erik Ten Hag’s men created a number of chances in the first half, but neither Antony nor Christian Eriksen managed to keep their attempts on target, while Marcus Rashford hit the post.
The Red Devils were punished for their lack of aim when Said Benrahma ran in alone and tried to shoot from outside the box, but David de Gea was unable to deal with it. In the second half, Man United failed to create any clear chances, and whenever they had an opportunity to shoot on goal, Lukasz Fabianski was there to keep them at bay and preserve three valuable points from West Ham.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro played the full ninety minutes, while his teammates Antony and Lucas Pacqueta were replaced midway through the game and Fred came off the bench in the second half.