The last match between the teams of the English Premier League (Premier League) Newcastle United (Newcastle) - Arsenal (London) took place on April 15, 2018 and ended with the score 2: 1 in favor of the “forty”.
The alignment before the match
Prior to this match, Newcastle lost in matches with Arsenal 10 times in a row. In 2018, a team from Newcastle, led by Spanish specialist Rafael Benitez, surprised many skeptics and even their fans, despite the fact that for a long time there has been talk about the owner’s desire to sell the club. In 11 matches, Newcastle lost only two times, it was matches with the leaders: Manchester City (1: 3) and Liverpool (0: 2). The hosts approached the match with a series of three victories, which allowed them to rise to 10th place in the Premier League table.
As for the London Arsenal, there was a feeling that he came to his senses after an unsuccessful February interval: the team of Arsene Wenger won 3 consecutive victories (all in the home arena) and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. Away this season, the gunners play extremely unconvincing: 3 wins with 8 losses in 15 matches.
Newcastle United - Arsenal. Compositions
Newcastle: Dubravka (goalkeeper) - Yedlin (defender), Lassels (defender), Lejeune (defender), Dammett (defender) - Richie (midfielder) (Murphy, midfielder), Diame (midfielder), Shelvey (midfielder), Kennedy (midfielder) - Perez (Joselu, striker) - Gail (striker) (Slimani, striker).
Arsenal: Czech (goalkeeper) - Chambers (defender) (Maitland-Niles, midfielder), Mustafi (defender), Holding (defender), Montreal (defender) - Elneni (midfielder), Jaca (midfielder) - Ivobi (midfielder) (Nketia, striker), Willock (midfielder) (Welbeck, striker), Obameyang (striker) - Lacazette (striker).
Match Text Review
The score of the match was 2: 1 in favor of Newcastle.
Goals marked: Perez (No. 29), Ritchie (No. 68) - Lacazette (No. 14).
Arsene Wenger, having rotated the squad on the eve of the match ½ finals of the Europa League with Atletico Madrid, gave rest to many players of the main squad and released on the field 18-year-old Joe Willock, for whom this match was his debut in the Premier League. Due to the injury, the recruit Henrikh Mkhitaryan could not help the team.
The composition of Newcastle United cost no loss. As expected, a newcomer to the winter transfer window, Islam Slimani, entered the field at 63 minutes - he replaced Gale.
The start of the meeting was smooth, the teams took turns controlling the ball and rarely brought their attacks to goal kicks. Benitez chose a competent tactical scheme of the game: his wards very accurately performed the settings of the coach, acting reliably in defense and completely not providing the opponents with operational space. At the same time, the team did not sit out on the defensive and made exits to other people's gates, which were much more dangerous than the “gunners”.
However, in the 14th minute the account was opened by the London Arsenal. Pierre-Emerik Obameyang received the pass after an accurate throw from half of the guests' field, served on the goalie’s line, and London striker Lacazette in a beautiful fall sent the ball into the net past goalkeeper “forty” Dubravka. Having scored a goal, Arsenal continued to control the ball, while not creating dangerous moments in someone else's penalty area.
At the 29th minute, Newcastle scored a return goal. After receiving a pass from Gale, Yadlin sent the ball to a player of Iranian origin, Perez, who shot in touch with the bottom corner from the goalkeeper. London goalkeeper Petr Cech again hesitantly played on the goalie line. Until the end of the first half of the match, the meeting was held with mutual control of the game at counter speeds, but the teams did not create anything intelligible at the gates of each other, apart from the moment with the participation of Chambers, who tried to close the lumbago of Montreal after a free kick.
With the beginning of the second half, the Magpies competently built a defense at their gates, giving the initiative to the Londoners. So it was until the middle of the second half, when the hosts received a gift for their efforts in the form of a goal scored: Montreal knocked the ball exactly to the feet of Slimani, who made a pass to Perez. This was followed by a heel game on Ritchie, and the latter easily scored a goal past Cech into the Arsenal goal - 2: 1.
Given the absolutely obscure game “gunners” in the attack, this goal was a serious bid to win. And in the 75th minute, the “magpies” were able to increase the score in the confrontation, however, after Kennedy hit and hit the ball on the crossbar, none of the hosts' players was on the move. All Arsenal’s attempts to level the score were unsuccessful. Newcastle defeated Arsenal (the first in 11 matches), climbed 10th in the Premier League table. Arsenal remained on the 6th line. The composition of “Newcastle United” is inferior in name and cost to the London “Arsenal”, but everything is decided by the game - here and now.