(^) IN ASSOCIATION WITH
The future belongs to Aubam-
eyang. He was the last man from
the field at the end, grinning in the
rain like an individual who senses
that scoring goals for Arsenal is
about to get a whole lot easier.
NEWCASTLE UNITED (3-5-2): Dubravka 6;
Schar 6, Lascelles 6.5, Dummett 5.5;
Manquillo 6, Hayden 6.5, Shelvey 6 (Willems 54),
Longstaff 6.5 (Saint-Maximin 67, 7), Ritchie 6.5;
ALMIRON 7.5, Joelinton 5.5. Subs not used:
Darlow, Clark, Muto, Krafth, Fernandez.
Booked: Almiron. Manager: Steve Bruce 5.5.
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 6.5; Maitland-Niles 6.5,
Chambers 6, Sokratis 6.5, Monreal 6;
Guendouzi 6.5, Xhaka 7; Mkhitaryan 5
(Martinelli 84), Willock 5.5 (Ceballos 64, 6),
Nelson 6 (Pepe 70 6); Aubameyang 7.
Subs not used: Martinez, Luiz, Torreira,
Lacazette. Scorer: Aubameyang 58.
Booked: Xhaka, Mkhitaryan, Nelson.
Manager: Unai Emery 7.
Referee: Martin Atkinson 7.
Attendance: 47,635.
Jetro cameo
has four-letter
Bruce fuming
CRAIG HOPE
at St James’ Park
Lost in translation: Bruce’s commands faltered REUTERS
IT dId not look good for
Newcastle boss Steve Bruce,
screaming, ‘What the f*** is
happening?’ towards his
backroom team as the left
wing-back he had just
brought on charged around
the centre of midfield.
Eventually, after two min-
utes of confusion and much
enthusiastic running from
substitute Jetro Willems, a
livid Bruce got his message
on to the field. Willems
switched to his natural posi-
tion and Matt Ritchie, a
left-sided midfielder, came
in field to fill the hole left by
the injured Jonjo Shelvey.
Just two minutes later and
Willems, perhaps worn out
from his midfield cameo,
was caught on his heels and
Ainsley Maitland-Niles stole
the ball before breaking
forward to set up Pierre-
Emerick Aubameyang for
the game’s only goal.
‘It was just a lack of
communication with him,’
said Bruce. ‘He only played
there for two minutes really
until we got the information
down about where we
wanted him to play.’
Bruce responded to
Arsenal’s goal by bringing
on Allan Saint-Maximin, a
winger, and withdrawing
Sean Longstaff, another
central midfielder, leaving
only Isaac Hayden in the
middle of the park.
Where was midfielder Ki
Sung-yueng, not named
among the substitutes
despite the presence of four
defenders on the bench?
‘Ki wasn’t injured, he just
wasn’t part of the squad,’
said Bruce. ‘We had a knock
to Paul dummett and
we had a
worry
over Jamaal Lascelles
because he wasn’t feeling
too great. That’s what we
were guarding against.’
The final half hour, it has
to be said, was shambolic
for Newcastle. Saint-
Maximin was supposed to
be operating just off lone
striker Joelinton but drifted
to his preferred left-wing
role and was reminded by
Bruce of the position he had
asked him to play.
Miguel Almiron, so lively
in that role supporting
Joelinton, was brought back
into midfield and his impact
soon waned. He gestured to
the bench in search of
answers as the team became
ragged and gaping holes
emerged.
At one point, Newcastle
had no player on the right-
hand side of the field as
Ritchie, Maximin and Almi-
ron — all left-footers — stood
within yards of each other in
their natural domain.
The upshot was no late
push for parity. It said much
that, when four minutes of
added time were announced,
there was no rallying cry
from the home support.
Still, this is one game. In
isolation it was not good,
but there were positives
during a first half-hour in
which Bruce sent his team
out on the front foot and
they troubled the visitors.
And it was still going
relatively well until the
clumsy introduction of
Willems seemed to affect
Newcastle’s rhythm.
For that, the buck
stops with
Bruce.
Emery: I don’t know when Ozil will be available
UNAI EMERY does not know
when Mesut Ozil and Sead
Kolasinac will be available for
selection but the Arsenal boss
praised his makeshift team after
a rare clean sheet and victory
on the road.
The Gunners have now equalled
last season’s clean-sheet tally
away from home after Pierre-
Emerick Aubameyang scored
the only goal at St James’ Park.
Arsenal were without Ozil and
Kolasinac, withdrawn from the
squad amid security fears after
they suffered an attempted
carjacking earlier this month.
‘The club is managing that,’ said
Emery. ‘We want to be with
them as soon as possible and
with normality in training and to
be ready to play. But I don’t
know now when they will be
available.’
Both players are under 24-hour
guard after the arrest of two
men who turned up outside
Ozil’s house in north London.
It is also said that Kolasinac’s
wife has left the country amid
fears for her safety.
On the win, Emery added: ‘I
wanted to score, I wanted to
win and I wanted a clean sheet.
Today we did that. We controlled
the ball, stayed very compact
and created chances.’
Calum Chambers was making his
first Arsenal appearance in 16
months and Emery was pleased
with the centre back’s display.
‘Last year was a good one for
Calum because he played so
many games for Fulham (on
loan),’ he said. ‘They played him
as a centre back in a three, in a
two and as a midfielder.
‘After his pre-season he
deserved to play and he was
very focused. I want to have
competition in every position
and I think we can and will
become stronger defensively.’
None of Arsenal’s summer
signings started. Dani Ceballos,
Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel
Martinelli came on while David
Luiz remained on the bench.
‘The circumstances are different
and some of them are still in
pre-season,’ said Emery.
‘Some need to play just 10 or 20
minutes to get their fitness up.’
CRAIG HOPE
HE’S AUBA-TAKEN HENRY!
NO Arsenal player has scored more goals after
50 Premier League games than Aubameyang...
PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG 33
THIERRY HENRY 30
IAN WRIGHT 24
ALEXIS SANCHEZ 22
ALEXANDRE LACAZETTE 20
... but wandering
Willems costs Toon
NEWCASTLE’S Jetro Willems
was all at sea when he
came on, failing to pick
up Paul Dummett’s
underhit pass and
letting in Arsenal to
score. Steve Bruce
claimed Willems was
playing higher up than
anticipated — as his touch
map (left) shows.