Through the late, dramatic turn around, Arsenal managed to defeat Newcastle United 2-1 at St. James ‘Park, thus winning their first Premier League (PL) match at the venue in four times and being only two points behind Liverpool.
Both teams were almost scoring in the very first minutes of the match – Nick Pope denied an attempt of Eberechi Eze, while Leandro Trossard hit the post. The pressure of the Gunners looked very promising but it was Newcastle who scored first. In the 35th minute from a short corner, Sandro Tonali dragged a cross that Nick Woltemade met with a powerful header firing it past David Raya.
Arsenal reacted after the break, bringing William Saliba and increasing the pressure for a goal equal to the opponent’s. Pope kept on annoying the Gunners by saving them multiple times while Declan Rice had to do a vital block to deny Jacob Murphy’s opportunity to go on the counter-attack.
Eventually, Newcastle’s persistence was over in the 84th minute when Rice’s cross found Mikel Merino who headed it in off the post to even the score.
When the game looked like it was going to end in a draw, Arsenal scored in a very dramatic way. In the last seconds of stoppage time, the Gabriel who jumped the highest nodded in Martin Ødegaard’s corner, causing a wild celebration and a second defeat of the season for Eddie Howe’s team.
