Newcastle United losing by 0 – 2 to Arsenal at the Emirate Stadium on Monday, 1st April, 2019 saw Arsenal FC clinching the third position in the English Premiership Table above Manchester United and their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal took the lead through a very fine low strike by Aaron Ramsey from 15 years after his first attempt at the back of the net was disallowed following a foul.
A chance to double Arsenal lead when Alexandre Lacazette calmly lofted the ball over the Newcastle Goalie Martin Dubravka was marred by a diving header from Matt Ritchie of Newcastle United on the goal line.
The best moment recorded by Newcastle United during the match was a teasing low shot by Salomon Rondon which was nicely handled by Arsenal goalkeeper, Bernd Leno by pushing it wide.
With seven games to the end of the season, Arsenal who were 10 points behind Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of February, 2019 with this victory rises above Tottenham Hotspur with two points clear to clinch the third spot on the English Premiership Table above Tottenham Hotspur who is at the fourth position and Manchester United at fifth position.
Arsenal’s win over Newcastle United is the 10th consecutive home win for the Gunners; their best run since a similar sequence from December 1997 to May 1998, as Unai Emery’s team continued a strong second half of the season that could see them secure a return to Champions League action after a two-year absence.
Unai Emery took over the managerial role of the Gunners after Arsene Wenger’s 22-year spell in charge of the Gunners ended with regular protests among the fans as they watched their team drift away from Europe’s elite.
But Emery, in his first year in the English game, has galvanised the side with his brand of free-flowing attacking football and this result took them to 63 points – the same that the Gunners managed under Wenger in all of 2017-18.
Arsenal started the match against Newcastle United with top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on the bench, but they still had 71% possession and were simply too strong for their opponents.
The hosts thought they had taken a 12th-minute lead, but Ramsey’s volley was ruled out as Sokratis was adjudged to have fouled Florian Lejeune.
But the Welshman, who missed his country’s two matches during the international break, scored 17 minutes later with a low strike after DeAndre Yedlin’s clearance inadvertently fell into Ramsey’s path.
The home fans were nearly celebrating again just before half-time, but Lacazette’s powerful effort was spectacularly headed off the line by Ritchie with Dubravka beaten.
After Sokratis headed wide and substitute Aubameyang had a shot saved, Arsenal got the second goal they deserved through Lacazette’s calm finish after Aubameyang’s flicked-on header set up the chance.
The only negative from the evening was Ramsey, who will join Juventus on a free transfer in the summer, going off with an injury midway through the second half.
Despite the Gunners fluidity, there was only a combined total of 10 shots from both sides, the fewest in a Premier League game since the nine efforts in the Bournemouth versus Leicester match in August 2015.
