Arsenal continued their impressive run in the Premier League with a commanding 4-1 victory over struggling Newcastle United at a vibrant Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The home side took control early on, with an own goal from Sven Botman and a straightforward finish from Kai Havertz giving Arsenal a 2-0 lead at halftime. Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior added to the scoreline in the second half, sealing a comfortable win for Mikel Arteta’s team.
With this sixth consecutive league victory, Arsenal now sits in third place with 58 points from 26 games, just two points behind league leaders Liverpool and one point behind Manchester City, who secured a 1-0 win against Bournemouth earlier in the day.
“It’s crucial to win games and we have to put pressure on [Liverpool and Manchester City], and that is what we will do,” said goalscorer Havertz. “The fans give us so much energy, that’s so important for us — it gives us a big boost.”
Arsenal opened the scoring in the 18th minute when a goalmouth scramble led to an own goal by Newcastle’s Botman. Havertz doubled the lead six minutes later, capitalizing on a cutback from Gabriel Martinelli.
The Gunners dominated the first half with 64% possession and 12 goal attempts, while Newcastle struggled to create any meaningful chances.
Saka extended Arsenal’s lead in the 65th minute with his 13th league goal of the season, before Kiwior headed home from a Declan Rice corner to make it 4-0.
Former Arsenal player Joe Willock pulled one back for Newcastle with a header in the 84th minute, but it was too little, too late for Eddie Howe’s side.
Arsenal’s recent form has seen them score 15 goals in their last three Premier League matches, providing a much-needed boost after their disappointing 1-0 loss to Porto in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg.
“It was very important [to win]. It was a tough game on Wednesday [in Portugal], and we wanted to win today — we did well today,” added Havertz.
The defeat leaves Newcastle in eighth place with 37 points. “Arsenal were very good, we weren’t, and we got punished,” commented Howe. “We were off in most aspects of our game, we didn’t do the basics right.”
Reported By AFP.
