Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal Player ratings and Match reaction

Ramsdale 8 - Made some cracking saves in this match, I feel he’s made up somewhat for his brain dead behaviour against Southampton a couple of weeks ago


White - 7 - Solid, Newcastle got far more joy down Zinchenko’s side


Kiwior 7 - Not in the class of Saliba but decent defender


Gabriel 7 - Composed and solid


Zinchenko 4 - I’m glad Arteta had the good sense to take him off


Jorginho 9 - Managed to up his performance from Chelsea, has actually far exceeded what I expected of him


Xhaka 8 - Uncharacteristically generous of me but after being caught dawdling at the start, put in a proper shift


Odegaard 8 - Competing with Martinelli for most improved player this season


Martinelli 7 - Maybe should have scored but definitely one of our bigger attacking threats


Jesus 6 - Bit quiet, the menace he provides in the box has dissipated from early on this season


Saka 6.5 - Not quite enough impact on the game to merit a 7. Still think he needs to be dropped (mainly cos he looks spent)


Subs

Tierney 8 - Why isn’t he starting


Partey 7 - Solid substitution


Trossard 7 - Added solidity to the game when defending our two goal lead


Nelson + Nketiah 6 - Did not have enough game time to have any impact, but they were there to replace tired legs to see the game out



We’ve seen Newcastle destroy teams at St James Park with their relentless pace, energy and aggression. We rode our luck at the start otherwise it could have happened to us, but after that good fortune we made the most of things and put in a performance that shows we want to keep going to the end.

Lot of character that looked missing at the Etihad was on show here today, and it’s no surprise that we’ve kept ten clean sheets away from home.

would generally agree :faint: but:

- Zin was no more than a 2 - absolutely appalling today, surely more and more people must be starting to see this buffoon for what he really is...?

- also Martinelli was an 8 - he effectively did score, through his creating the OG

Meanwhile, Kiwior has definitely calmed things down and it's another black mark against Arteta that he failed to give him more minutes earlier in the season, so when Saliba got injured he'd have know to bring him in ahead of Holding

Cracking result and performance.

After 10 mins it looked for all the world we were going to succumb to their energy. Weathered the storm well and then showed our quality. Fought well and kept our heads too when Newcastle tried to take the game into the mud.

Kiwior looks very capable and it’s a shame he wasn’t trusted over Holding previously. Jorginho has also provided some much needed composure after some very erratic performances from Partey.

It’s in miracle territory now but the goal after the City loss had to be to make them earn it and we’re doing just that. Tough one against Brighton next at home, let’s keep pushing and end positively. If we hit 90 points and don’t win it that would have to be considered a little unfortunate but City are City at the end of the day.

Great game. Great performance. Great win.

Best of the season for me. Not the fitba played but that's the type of game I'm never confident Arsenal will win. High intensity, high physicality...exactly the type of game we've been exposed in time and time again.

Thought the entire team were excellent, apart from the obvious Zinchenko, who is quickly becoming a liability, and the cowardly Saka, who was simply and easily bullied out of the game.

Thought Jorginho was brilliant after a poor first 10 mins but Odegaard was immense. As good off the ball as on it.

Can't not mention Martinelli too. Brilliant player.

Great result and very professional performance, streetwise at times. I thought we rode our luck at times but we looked a threat going forward and controlled midfield for large parts of the game.

I was pretty vocal on here about not wanting to sign Jorginho but he has been a really decent signing TBF, when called upon he has been very good, he was outstanding in Midfield yesterday alongside Xhaka and Odegaard who were both very good.

I like the look of Kiwior too, very quick and good on the ball, he needs to toughen up a bit and improve in the air, but he looks a tidy signing.

Yesterday was a statement win, not for the reasons of us still having a small chance of the title, but more about where we are as a team and the potential we have going into next season.

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Originally Posted by selassie

Great result and very professional performance, streetwise at times. I thought we rode our luck at times but we looked a threat going forward and controlled midfield for large parts of the game.

I was pretty vocal on here about not wanting to sign Jorginho but he has been a really decent signing TBF, when called upon he has been very good, he was outstanding in Midfield yesterday alongside Xhaka and Odegaard who were both very good.

I like the look of Kiwior too, very quick and good on the ball, he needs to toughen up a bit and improve in the air, but he looks a tidy signing.

Yesterday was a statement win, not for the reasons of us still having a small chance of the title, but more about where we are as a team and the potential we have going into next season.

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Streetwise, a good way of putting it. Xhaka and Jesus were absolute wankers in that respect. Got right under the Newcastle shirts and scratched. Turned the 12th man opposition fans into a frustrated rabble. Broke the unity and turned it into a chaotic mess. All at the right moments. Took pressure on themselves to relieve it from the rest of the team. Giant performances from both of them. And they played pretty decent football too. A very, very rare performance. Whether it's indicative or an aberration is too soon to call. But I do know Xhaka has been hounded by opponents, hounded by his own fans, hounded by the media, but he's still there snarling and pushing back. Tell me you don't need a player like that to win titles.

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Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn

Streetwise, a good way of putting it. Xhaka and Jesus were absolute wankers in that respect. Got right under the Newcastle shirts and scratched. Turned the 12th man opposition fans into a frustrated rabble. Broke the unity and turned it into a chaotic mess. All at the right moments. Took pressure on themselves to relieve it from the rest of the team. Giant performances from both of them. And they played pretty decent football too. A very, very rare performance. Whether it's indicative or an aberration is too soon to call. But I do know Xhaka has been hounded by opponents, hounded by his own fans, hounded by the media, but he's still there snarling and pushing back. Tell me you don't need a player like that to win titles.

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Yep I agree NQ. Xhaka especially has totally won me over, I was one of the fans hounding him before, I wanted him gone, sold, out of the club. Not anymore, he isone of the first names on the teamsheet for me, he's become a very important player for us.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by selassie

Yep I agree NQ. Xhaka especially has totally won me over, I was one of the fans hounding him before, I wanted him gone, sold, out of the club. Not anymore, he isone of the first names on the teamsheet for me, he's become a very important player for us.

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:gp: - both ones...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by selassie

Yep I agree NQ. Xhaka especially has totally won me over, I was one of the fans hounding him before, I wanted him gone, sold, out of the club. Not anymore, he isone of the first names on the teamsheet for me, he's become a very important player for us.

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People will recall that I was as anti-Xhaka as it gets and it's still valid to say that in his previous seasons he's been a liability, but I agree he was great on Sunday

I was very surprised/disappointed MoTD didn't show his last-ditch tackle in our area which was superb, his pass through to Martinelli was great as well and should have led to a goal and also agree he and Jesus did a good job of winding Newcastle up

Same here but what can one do