Arsenal eased into third place with a comfortable win over against a lacklustre Newcastle at the Emirates on Monday night.
Arsenal started the game with the ever impressive wingbacks Maitland Niles and Kolasinac, with Xhaka and Koscielny missing out through minor niggles and Aubameyang on the bench due to a mild illness. Newcastle set up with a solid 4-5-1 formation looking to frustrate their hosts and started well enough as Arsenal struggled early on to get a shot at goal.
The fluency soon came though with Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil in sparkling form in midfield. Some of Arsenal’s one-touch passing was sublime and the ball was moved at such speed and tempo it was reminiscent of watching the classic Henry, Pires and Cole triumvirate of the Invincible era. This attack had already been denied a goal from some fussy refereeing disallowing a Ramsey goal yet the Welshman wouldn’t be denied on the half-hour mark as a move started by Leno ended up with Lacazette being tackled allowing Ramsey to sweep the ball in off the post.
The goal freed Arsenal up and two moves involving Iwobi, Ramsey, Kolasinac and Ozil down the left hand side nearly created two goals as firstly Ozil’s dummy and one two nearly saw the German prod home. On the stroke of half time, an even better move full of one touch passing at pinball pace saw Lacazette turn and drill a shot only to be denied by a great goalline clearance by Matt Ritchie.
The second half was a tad slower and Newcastle seemed content to stay in the game for as long as they could. However, the introduction of Aubameyang sparked Arsenal into a final flurry and the Gabon substitute flicked on for Lacazette in the 83rd minute allowing the Frenchman to lob the stranded Dubravka.
Lacazette was disallowed a second goal by more bizarre refereeing as the game meandered to a close. Arsenal now move above Tottenham to go third as the battle for Champions League football heats up. Newcastle remain seven points clear of relegation spots and will be looking to the summer holidays and probably another summer of no transfers.
Kolasinac the key
The Bosnian full back has had a strange season with a slow start and a seeming indifference to defending. However with Monreal in behind him he has become the most consistent attacking threat in the ever changing Arsenal forward line.
His constant overlaps and one touch passing with Ozil and Iwobi was a dazzling display on Monday night and Kolasinac has been Arsenal’s best player since Christmas and seems to be key to getting Emery’s system to work and to possibly a top-four finish.
VAR to enforce more rules?
An early goal from Ramsey was rightly disallowed due to a Sokratis push in the middle of the box however these are very rarely given and causes much consternation when they are. Given the introduction of VAR next season we could see a lot more rules that are very rarely applied, applied, and the pushing by attackers and defenders looks to be the obvious starting point.
Mustafi carried once more
Even against a poor Newcastle attack the German looked skittish and was once again carried by the increasingly towering Sokratis.
At various parts of the season, Mustafi has needed either Holding, Sokratis or Koscielny to guide him through and a central defender purchase looks to be on the cards if Arsenal are to kick on next season.
Newcastle drifting
Rafa Benitez and his players have done a quality job in staying in the league so comfortably this season. But as another 90 minutes drifted on by thoughts must turn to what next. Apart from the top six, the league looks much of a muchness from 7th to 16th. Therefore it has to be considered, would a properly invested Newcastle United be that far away from Wolves or Everton?
Does Mike Ashley want this or care? No. But what does Benitez want? Does he need to set up so conservatively given the gap to the relegation fight? Does he want to drift at this club hiding behind the Ashley drama?
The summer could be an interesting time especially considering the last two times Ashley has let Newcastle drift relegation was just around the corner.
Lacazette the main man
Another game another goal – the Frenchman again started with no Aubameyang and was a constant menace and was involved in everything good going forward. He is increasingly becoming the consistent striker and is making Aubameyang look more and more the second choice forward despite the latter having more goals than his strike partner. His lob on Monday night was sublime and takes him to 24 goal involvements in the league this season, numbers which put him up with the league’s stars.
