Newcastle United Hands Arsenal their Second Home Loss of the Season
In an English Premier League match on Sunday, Arsenal hosted Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium. This was a second meeting between both sides, as they had already played a match in the English Carling Cup on 27th October. However, unlike
the previous result, Arsenal lost against the resurgent Newcastle side.
This season, Arsenal is being let down by their home performances. It was their second home defeat, the previous one coming against West Bromwich Albion. The Gunners are continuing their poor run, as this was their second defeat in a row in all competitions.
Apparently, it is the complacent attitude of the young Gunners that has led to this abysmal performance against an average side.
Andy Carroll was the lone goal-scorer of the match, with the goal being scored in injury time of first half. Carroll was having a tough day before this match, as he was the prime focus of some newspapers talking about his private affairs. However, the day
ended well for the Englishman, whose goal would put a good impression on the English coach, Fabio Capello. Carroll is also rumoured to be a part of English team for an upcoming friendly against France.
Arsene Wenger, the manager of Arsenal, was also in the news because of some allegations about his private affairs. However, the day ended even worse for the manager, who was extremely frustrated after his team’s loss against Shakhtar Donetsk. This result
would add to his frustration, as his team had a chance to close down the gap from top and put pressure on Chelsea.
In the course of this match, Arsenal was somewhat unlucky as their players hit the woodwork twice. First, it was their captain Cesc Fabregas and then the English forward Theo Walcott who came close to scoring. On the other hand, Newcastle did not have a
lot many open chances, as they kept on defending their goal. Fabregas had a few more chances, while Nasri and Walcott looked threatening throughout the match. However, it was generally a frustrating first half as Arsenal failed to capitalize on any opportunity.
At half time, Newcastle exploited the weakest point in Arsenal’s team. It was a goal-keeping error by Lukasz Fabianski that led to the only goal scored by Carroll. Joey Barton took a free-kick which prompted Fabianski to rush forward and clear the ball.
However, he was fraction of a second late as Carroll shot the header into an open goal.
The second half started well for Arsenal as they had a couple of chances. But, it was extremely unlucky for the Gunners who did not get their equaliser. This perturbed Arsene Wenger who made a couple of changes around the hour mark. Andrei Arshavin and Robin
Van Persie were brought on in place of Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh, respectively. However, this did not prove fruitful either, as Newcastle defended well against the home side. Another substitution was made by Wenger, as he brought on Nicklas Bendtner
for Jack Wilshere.
Despite some aggressive plays near to the end, the equaliser could not be found by the Gunners. In the end, there was further humiliation for the home side, as their centre-back, Laurent Koscielny was shown a direct red card for a professional foul on Nile
Ranger. In the end, Newcastle proved to be a stronger side as they held on to their lead and won the match.
With this loss, Arsenal would remain in third position behind Manchester United, who won their match on Saturday. Wenger, who was hoping that his side would prove to be title-contenders, has been let down by the youngster once again. At least one thing has
been made clear, i.e. Arsene Wenger would require a replacement for his goal-keepers, who have proved to be ordinary in the season so far.
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