Section:GDN 1N PaGe:46 Edition Date:190812 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 11/8/2019 20:16 cYanmaGentaYellowb
- The Guardian Monday 12 Aug ust 2019
(^46) Sport
Football Premier League
Exquisite Aubameyang
rains on Bruce’s parade
A little bit of a boycott and an awful lot
of rain ensured that Steve Bruce’s New-
castle United reign began in downbeat
mode as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
emphasised his enduring importance
to Arsenal by cutting through the
gloom and registering an exquisitely
incisive winner.
If it hardly bodes well for Bruce
that the chaotic preamble to that goal
involved him screaming ‘what the
fuck’s happening’ as his new Neth-
erlands left-back, Jetro Willems,
replaced Jonjo Shelvey and immedi-
ately began charging around in mid-
fi eld, these are very early days.
Willems was meant to step in at left
wing-back but it transpired that tacti-
of potentially better days ahead but
unfortunately for Newcastle, their
newly returned, local attacking hero
is injured – yet again. Admittedly there
were some tantalising Miguel Almir ón
cameos, redolent with glittering prom-
ise but the undeniable absence of real
ruthlessness in front of goal appeared
suggestive of a long, hard slog ahead.
58’
Man who
made the
diff erence
Pierre-
Emerick
Aubameyang
celebrates his
winning goal
early in the
second half
SCOTT HEPPELL/
REUTERS
cal instructions were lost in translation
and he did not realise Matt Ritchie was
shifting positions to assume Shelvey’s
central role.
Two minutes after order was fi nally
restored, the Eintracht Frankfurt
loanee proved the victim of another
misunderstanding, with Paul Dum-
mett this time, before his surrender of
possession prefaced an anti-climactic
defeat.
Bruce’s pain was surely exacer-
bated by the fact that Unai Emery’s
supposedly vulnerable and hardly
full-strength backline managed a
rare clean sheet on the road, on a day
when a starting frontline missing both
the £72m Pépé and Alexandre Laca-
The number of
goals Pierre-
Emerick
Aubameyang
has scored in
50 Premier
League
appearances
33
Nicolas Pépé
became the
200th player
to play for
Arsenal in
the Premier
League when
he came on
200
Newcastle United 0
Arsenal 1
Aubameyang 58
▲ The protest against Mike Ashley
was low-key despite the empty seats
CARL RECINE/ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS
Louise Taylor
St James’ Park
zette created very little of note. At
least the sight of the watching Andy
Carroll keeping his ponytail dry with
a baseball cap emblazoned with the
word ‘Icon’ hinted at the prospect
Possession
Newcastle Arsenal
41% 59%
Shots on target
22
Corners
53
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