Football Special Report: Arsenal vs. Newcastle United- Best and Worst of Gunners (Part 1)
It was indeed a weekend full of shocks and surprises, which saw English Premier League’s most dominant teams being defeated by the under dogs. Premier League table leaders, Chelsea lost to Liverpool by 2 goals to nil. Along with that, Tottenham Hotspurs,
who thrashed European Champions 3-1 during midweek’s Champions League match, was hammered by Bolton Wanderers by four goals.
Above all that, the 12 times Premier League winners, Arsenal lost at home to the new boys of English Premier League, Newcastle United, by one goal and history was made as Magpies defeated the Gunners after 10 years. It was a superb and organised display
from the visitors and Chris Houghton’s men completely deserved their points.
However, once again the Gunners were defeated by the newly promoted team of English Premier League at home this season. First, it was West Bromwich Albion who managed to bag all three points at the Emirates and now it was Newcastle United that was able to
snatch three crucial points from Arsenal. Indeed, it was one of the worst performances from Arsene Wenger’s boys in the recent past; Arsenal failed to create many visible goal-scoring chances.
Samir Nasri hit the bar in the first half from a free kick, and Fabregas had a superb shot expertly saved by Newcastle United’s goalkeeper, but apart from that, they hardly created anything of note in the first half. The Magpies looked competitive from the
outset, and an impressive towering header in the final minutes of the first half gave Newcastle United a valuable lead going into the break.
Arsenal started off positively after the break, as Chamakh hit a superb shot which again hit the woodwork, disappointingly, for Arsenal. Just few minutes into the second half, Arsene Wenger landed two of his best players to change the course of the game.
However, despite their efforts, both, Andrei Arshavin and Robin Van Persie also failed to create any clear chances and both did not look in their best form.
On the other side, the visitors defended exceptionally well and every one of their players was outstanding and worked hard to defend their one goal precious lead. Salt was rubbed into the Gunners’ wounds in stoppage time when Koscielny received a highly
contentious straight red card when he bundled over Newcastle United’s attacker. This red card will see him miss some very important games for Arsenal.
The Gunners looked off the pace and did not look like they were going to earn anything from the match, as was the case in the end. Now, Arsenal is way behind Premier League leaders Chelsea and along with that, they are three points behind Manchester United,
for which they themselves are responsible.
Better Players of Arsenal:
Samir Nasri
The young Frenchman showed his dribbling skills on a lot of occasions but could not split the defence with his passes on a regular basis. Nasri did not add too much width and did not cross on too many occasions, which can be criticised; but on a bad day,
Nasri looked energetic and tried his best to inspire Arsenal. Samir Nasri suffered a knock on his ankle in the first half and was substituted early in the second half. His shot was the best that the Gunners could manage on a day where there were not too many
chances for Arsenal.
Andrei Arshavin
For the first time in this season, Arsenal veteran left winger was on the bench but came on in the second half to replace Samir Nasri. Arshavin’s trickery troubled the Magpies defence, as he tried his best to create something. Arshavin did lose possession
at times, but whenever he had the ball, the Gunners looked more threatening, which is why he was one of the better players.
To be continued...
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