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Unai Emery got his third consecutive Premier League win against Arsenal with a 2-1 victory against Newcastle United at St. James Park on Saturday, September 15. The Rafa Benitez-managed side, 17th on the points table, are yet to get a win this season.
The North London club, on the other hand, climbed up to the seventh spot with nine points in five weeks. It was not an easy win for the visitors, who had to toil hard past the intensity exhibited by the hosts in the first 45 minutes of the game.
"The first half we couldn’t control the match like we wanted. We need to impose our ideas, but we conceded a lot of chances for the counter attack. The second half, the balance on the pitch was better. We didn’t concede the transition as easy. The key was the first goal, it gave us the confidence to improve on the match."
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Unai Emery
Half-time came without goals from any side, before strikes from Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil saw Arsenal race to a two-goal lead before the 60th minute. Ciaran Clark scored Newcastle's only goal in stoppage time, but it was too little too late for the hosts to take something substantial from the encounter.
Interestingly, the ten goals scored by Arsenal in the league so far have come from ten different players.
Here are three reasons why Arsenal won at St. James Park:
#3 Resilience from Sokratis Papastathopoulos
The vital cog behind Arsenal conceding just the solitary goal against Newcastle was their summer signing, Sokratis Papasthathopoulos. The Greek centre back held his own in the first 45 minutes when Arsenal's defence looked all over the place.
The 30-year-old kept the visitors in the game with his timely tackles, strong recoveries and display of efficient physicality.
His imperative contribution came in the 22nd minute, when Shkodran Mustafi slipped in an attempt to receive a long ball in front of Murphy – Sokratis showed great awareness though, and bailed his partner, and his team with characteristic calm under duress. He mitigated the crisis with a quick run, a muscular tussle with the Newcastle forward, and a seamless clearance to cap it all off.
#2 Granit Xhaka's free-kick
Newcastle went into half-time as the more satisfied unit among the two. The Gunners looked shaky at the back, unsure in attack, and scrappy with their passing. The game looked in the balance when the second half started off, with the visitors under pressure to improve on their returns from the first 45 minutes.
However, a free-kick came Arsenal's way in the 49th minute, when substitute Lucas Torreira was taken down by the hosts. Xhaka, who is known for his occasional rockets from outside of the 18-yard-box, came up with the goods off the set-piece to score the opening goal of the encounter.
The strike changed the course of the match, as momentum turned swiftly in Arsenal's favour, which coupled with a steep loss in steam from Newcastle's 4-4-1-1 system.
#1 Foot off the pedal from Newcastle United
Newcastle's performance against Arsenal completed a complete spectrum on Saturday, ranging from extremely efficient and dogged to completely loose and sloppy. The hosts dominated the proceedings in the first 30 minutes of the game, winning four back-to-back corners.
Arsenal's patchy back-line looked feeble under the constant attack, and the home side kept the North London side under high-octane pressure for the better part of the first half.
However, the intensity from Benitez's side suddenly vanished after Xhaka's goal – they gifted pockets of space to the opposition, and players like Ozil thrived under the time they got on the ball. The decline in pressing from Newcastle gave Arsenal the leeway to surge forward with their pre-empted runs and slick passing.
