Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle on Saturday, marking their second consecutive loss at St. James’ Park and their third Premier League match without a win.
Alexander Isak scored an early header, helping Eddie Howe’s team break a five-game winless streak in the league. Newcastle effectively shut down Arsenal’s struggling attack for the rest of the match.
After a boost from their recent League Cup win over Chelsea, Newcastle came out strong. In the 12th minute, Isak found space between Arsenal defenders William Saliba and Gabriel to score with a precise header from Anthony Gordon’s cross.
This was a stark difference from last season’s meeting, where Gordon scored a late winner after a controversial VAR check that angered Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
In this game, Arteta couldn’t complain about the result, as Arsenal seldom threatened and lacked creativity without the injured Martin Odegaard. Declan Rice had Arsenal’s best chance in injury time but headed wide after receiving a cross from Bukayo Saka.
With this loss, Arsenal could fall eight points behind league leaders Manchester City, who were set to play Bournemouth later.