The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

2 November 28, 2021The Sunday Times 2GS

Football Premier League

Dubravka

7

Schär

6

Krafth

5

Ritchie

5

Fraser

5

Saint-Maximin

6

Lascelles

6

Wilson

6

Willock

6

Shelvey

7

Joelinton

5

4-2-3-1

Ramsdale

8

White

8

Tavar e s

8

Tomiyasu

7

Odegaard

6

Smith Rowe

7

Saka

8

Aubameyang

5

Gabriel

6

Partey

6

Lokonga

7

4-2-3-1

A

t least, in the first flush of

Venky’s ownership, Black-

burn Rovers entertained us.

They inquired about Ronal-

dinho, appointed a TV pun-

dit as global adviser, and

lost games 7-1. Newcastle

United, on the other hand,

are not so much living the dream as

sending the Premier League to sleep.

Last weekend’s 3-3 home draw with

Brentford was clearly an aberration:

here was another grey, embattled,

unambitious and low-yield display

from an outfit that has contrived to

take three points from 18 since becom-

ing the richest club in the world.

Eddie Howe, on the touchline for

the first time since being appointed

head coach, having missed the Brent-

ford game with Covid, faces an enor-

mous challenge to breathe some life —

and joy — into a dour collection of

players who have been unable to win a

single match all season. Since Saudi

Arabia, with its horrible human rights

record, bought Newcastle, their sup-

porters’ consciences have been tested

far more than the opposition. The

spectacle of Allan Saint-Maximin, one

of football’s most effervescent talents,

defending deep for almost the entire

90 minutes encapsulated the team’s

lack of self-expression.

Arsenal were good — very good, in

passages — after getting through an

opening 40 minutes during which

their passing and movement were not

smart or sharp enough to pierce the

ten men the opposition usually had

behind the ball. They went level on

points with fourth-placed West Ham

United and this was good therapy

after last weekend’s trauma of being

dismantled at Anfield.

Both of their goals were lovely, the

product of good coaching, budding

talent and old-school Arsenal virtues

of passing triangles and clever “out-

side-to-in” movement around the

box. The combined age of Mikel

Arteta’s scorers was the same as

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: 40.

Bukayo Saka claimed the first, 11

minutes after half-time. Part of Arse-

nal’s improvement, in terms of break-

ing Newcastle down, came from

Arteta encouraging his defenders to

step into midfield or attacking posi-

tions to create overloads. The out-

standing, buccaneering Nuno Tavares

moved from the flank to a dangerous

space just inside Newcastle’s box and

outside him Saka found Emile Smith

Rowe. Arsenal’s No 10 fed the ball to

Tavares, who turned sharply and

rolled it into the path of Saka, who had

HOWE REALISES

SIZE OF HIS TASK

Martinelli

watches his

effort beat

Dubravka to

clinch the

victory for

Arsenal

20

ARSENAL

NEWCASTLE

UNITED

Saka 56

Martinelli 66

Star man Nuno Tavares (Arsenal).

Substitutes: Arsenal G Martinelli (for Saka

64min, 7), A Lacazette (for Aubameyang 76),

M Elneny (for Partey 85)

Newcastle United M Almirón (for Ritchie 67, 5),

J Murphy (for Joelinton 67, 5), I Hayden (for

Shelvey 88).

Referee S Attwell.

Attendance 59,886.

JONATHAN

NORTHCROFT

Football Correspondent

At Emirates Stadium

made a typically intelligent burst from

wide in behind a leaden Emil Krafth.

With a gorgeous early shot into the

far corner, with his left foot, Saka beat

Martin Dubravka. He went off eight

minutes later, walking gingerly, after

feeling discomfort in a quad muscle

but Arteta did not give the impression

that the injury is serious.

The replacement was Gabriel

Martinelli and the Brazilian scored,

with an even better finish than Saka’s,

after only 93 seconds on the pitch and

with only his second touch. Ben White

brought the ball out from defence and

played to Takehiro Tomiyasu, who

was charging beyond Matt Ritchie on

the left flank. Tomiyasu’s ball inside

was a beauty and Martinelli, having

made a brilliant run from wide into

the box, lobbed Dubravka on the vol-

ley for his first goal at the Emirates

since January last year.

“The word was we had to be

patient,” Arteta, the Arsenal manager,

said. “We had to play with urgency

and rhythm. That’s what we did in the

second half. We found spaces and

that’s how we scored the goals.”

Howe was so eager to affect things

that he spent the game beyond the

edge of his technical area, feet right on

the touchline, using breaks in play to

call players over for individual

instruction and doing a lot of usher-

ing, pointing and windmill-armed

geeing up.

He felt Newcastle played well,

which was probably a reflection of

how organised and effortful they

were, and maybe until the January

transfer window comes there is not a

lot more he can do with this squad.

But watching them was grim: until