Arsenal Player Ratings vs Newcastle
Grading how each Arsenal player fared in the 4-1 thumping of Newcastle United
Arsenal demolished a sorry Newcastle United side at the Emirates to close the gap at the top of the table to two points.
A Sven Botman own-goal began the rout, before Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior hopped on the scoresheet to lock all three points and the Gunners’ sixth straight Premier League victory. Joe Willock returned to the Magpies side and netted the consolation against his former club.
Having started quickly off the blocks, Arsenal took the lead after Gabriel Magalhaes’ winning ball from a Saka delivery. Deputy stopper Loris Karius made a brilliant save, only for Tino Livramento to blast his clearance off Botman.
The hosts would double their lead courtesy of some outstanding work from Gabriel Martinelli, who darted in behind the Newcastle backline and crafted a cut-back to an unmarked Havertz across the face of goal.
Chances continued to flow for the silky-smooth side, as Newcastle’s minimal threat (no shots on target in the first half) meant that there was little to worry about heading into the break.
A sizzling solo goal from Saka – his seventh goal in five games – gave Arsenal an insurmountable lead and once again, in quick succession, Kiwior flicked a set-piece to give his side a fourth. Once again, Arsenal demonstrated their overpowering strength from dead ball situations.
Manchester City and Liverpool are emblematic of consistency, but Arsenal are hitting another gear at this decisive part of the season. They’ve smashed 15 goals in their last three games during their offensive outburst.
The team that came close to challenging for the title are back in the mix and without further ado, we’ll take a look at how each player performed in another commanding victory.
David Raya – 6.5/10
Just the one save for Raya, who is slowly growing in confidence as the preferred goalkeeper in Mikel Arteta’s side. Will be gutted about the goal, though.
Ben White – 7/10
White was heavily involved in Arsenal’s build-up down the right. He would try to use one of Newcastle’s midfielders as a decoy and offer width as well as space.
William Saliba – 7/10
Arsenal’s coolest man on defence was up to his task again, gliding past the opposition and taking control of matters when Newcastle threatened late in the second half.
Gabriel – 7.5/10
Gabriel continues to be Arsenal’s most threatening player from set pieces. His header opened the floodgates and defensively, he did well to defuse Alexander Isak.
Jakub Kiwior – 8/10
Kiwior continues to supply the balance between Oleksandr Zinchenko’s inverted attacking style and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s solidity. Despite holding deeper roles at times, he popped up with a wonderfully taken goal.
Martin Odegaard – 8.5/10
Playing in a more advanced role in what was a four-man box midfield, Odegaard didn’t allow the Toon players to rest and got on the end of some key moments.
A delicate backheel to Saka in the 31st minute in a wave of attacks that was ultimately blazed over by Martinelli, and a pass laid on for Havertz to make it 3-0 in the first half summed up the night for the Arsenal skipper – enjoyable.
Jorginho – 9/10
Jorginho proved once more why Arsenal trusted him at the centre of the park. He was everywhere. He let Declan Rice fly and Odegaard press fearlessly.
No player had more touches than him, and besides the defensive masterclass that completely shunned Newcastle, Jorginho was enterprising with his quick forward passing. The prime example of the same was that lob to Martinelli for the second goal of the evening.
Declan Rice – 8.5/10
Another monstrous display from Rice, who again showed the different layers he has to his game. In a free role where he could venture forward, Rice was too powerful for the chasers. He should have scored right at the end.
Bukayo Saka – 8.5/10
Saka is on top of his game and is perhaps the league’s deadliest player this calendar year thus far. His link-up play with Odegaard was delightful, as was his decision-making with both feet. On another day, he could have had a goal or two more.
Kai Havertz – 9/10
The Havertz on display today was the one the world saw at Bayer Leverkusen – dangerous with a turn of pace, clever space creator, and someone who arrives at the box and reads the final pass before anyone else.
His goal would do him a world of good, as the 24-year-old was stupendous with his ball recoveries as well. Huge credit must go to Arteta for protecting the talent.
Gabriel Martinelli – 7.5/10
Martinelli fulfilled his role to near perfection in the Arsenal side. He drove with the ball, exchanged flanks and bagged himself an assist.
Substitutes
Leandro Trossard – 6/10
Arsenal were on cruise control by the time Leandro Trossard arrived at the scene. He didn’t have much to do.
Emile Smith Rowe – 6.5/10
Had a couple of promising moments upfront, particularly in the dying moments of the match when his sting shot was cleared off the line by Dan Burn.
Eddie Nketiah – 5/10
Hardly involved in the build-up.
Reiss Nelson – 5/10
Nelson brought fresh legs to the match and it was his blocked cross that almost led to Smith Rowe’s goal in the 93rd minute.
Mohamed Elneny – N/A
The long-serving Elneny was brought on for the last five minutes.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Ank Kumar. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.