The beauty of a wonderful goal from Mesut Ozil gave way to the terror of mediocrity and more dropped points at The Emirates as Arsenal and Newcastle fought each other for the prize of who had the most to lose. An exhibition of elegance turned into an exercise in desperation. What once was pretty finished up ugly.
Arsenal, who had gone three league games without a win and fallen to seventh in the table clung on in the end but only against a backdrop of loud dismay from their supporters who have realised with a sense of familiar dread that they are contemplating another season gripped by a grim battle to try to sneak into the top four.
Newcastle, who have now lost eight of their last nine games, teetered on the brink of the bottom three with this latest reverse, waiting on West Ham’s delayed match at Stoke to see whether they would end the day in the relegation zone. It has been quite a fall since the optimism of the early season. The sale of the club cannot come too soon.
Mesut Ozil scored a delightful volley as Arsenal ran out narrow 1-0 winners against Newcastle in the Premier League
Ozil’s first-half goal ensured Arsenal returned to winning ways following three games without victory in the Premier League
Ozil fired the ball home from the edge of the penalty area into the top right corner to ensure Arsenal picked up all three points
A disappointed Alexandre Lacazette is replaced by fellow striker and compatriot Olivier Giroud in the 72nd minute
French striker Lacazette reacts after an attempted cheeky chip over Rob Elliot flew well over the crossbar
Ayoze Perez attempts a shot at goal as Spanish right back Hector Bellerin attempts to close him down late on
Jacob Murphy has a shot at goal as the visitors started to apply some strong pressure early on in the second period
PLAYER RATINGS, LEAGUE TABLE AND MATCH ZONE
Arsenal: Cech 6 – Bellerin 6, Koscielny 6, Monreal 5, Maitland-Niles 6.5 – Ozil 8, Xhaka 4, Wilshere 7 – Iwobi 5 (Welbeck 5), Lacazette 6 (Giroud 5), Sanchez 6 (Coquelin 5).
Newcastle United: Elliot 7 – Yedlin 6, Lascelles 6.5, Lejeune 5, Manquillo 5.5 – Murphy 7 (Gayle 5), Merino 6 (Diame 5), Hayden 5, Atsu 6 (Ritchie 5) – Joselu 7, Perez 6.
Man of the match: Ozil.
Referee: Stuart Attwell.
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This is how Mesut Ozil (No 11) opened the scoring for Arsenal on Saturday with a fantastic left-footed volley. CLICK HERE to find out more from our MATCH ZONE.
Arsenal began the game brightly with some dizzyingly fast exchanges of passes on the edge of the Newcastle box that never quite created a chance and a thrilling, dancing run by Ainsley Maitland-Niles that ended with a sweetly-struck drive that whistled past Rob Elliot’s dive but nestled in the side-netting.
Newcastle offered little going forward and if there was a sense of inevitability about Arsenal taking the lead midway through the half, there was nothing remotely predictable about the way they did it.
Mesut Ozil still has his detractors but when a shot from Sanchez ballooned into the air off the head of DeAndre Yedlin, Lejeune could not clear it properly and nodded it as far as one of the best left feet in world football.
Ozil watched the ball drop, got his head over the ball and fashioned a volley from the edge of the box that was beautiful in its technique and perfect in its execution and it flew past Elliot into the roof of the Newcastle net.
Ozil is always wonderful to watch, even when he is in a cameo mood, but against Arsenal he performed like the leading man. He nearly scored again before half time when he squeezed a shot past Elliot but it was hacked off the line by a Newcastle defender.
Chile international Alexis Sanchez talks to referee Stuart Attwell as both teams walk off the pitch for half-time
Ozil looks to double his tally against the Magpies but he is denied as Elliot does well to close him down
Spanish manager Rafa Benitez shouts instructions to his Newcastle players with his side 1-0 behind
English midfielder Isaac Hayden receives a yellow card against his former club after fouling Jack Wilshere from behind
Lacazette was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty ten minutes before the interval when he was wrestled to the ground by Lejeune but in the second half, Newcastle finally began to show some ambition. Roared on by their supporters behind the goal, they gave Arsenal their first nervous moments of the game.
Their fans, who had travelled down in numbers from the north east and who had roared their players on at the faintest hint of encouragement, sensed the first hints of encouragement when substitute Matt Ritchie found himself in space on the edge of the box but lifted his shot high over the bar.
A couple of minutes later, Newcastle made their best chance of the game when Jacob Murphy cut in from the left and then jinked past Bellerin and Koscielny before curling a low shot towards the bottom left hand corner. Cech dived to push it away and there was not a Newcastle forward near enough to apply the finishing touch.
The Arsenal support began to grow restless. Discontent is never far below the surface at The Emirates these days and as Arsene Wenger’s team laboured to make inroads into the Newcastle defence, their murmurs of frustration turned into groans.
World Cup winner Ozil is mobbed by Arsenal team-mates Granit Xhaka and Ainsley Maitland-Niles after scoring on 23 minutes
The German playmaker celebrates after putting Arsenal in front with a fantastic volley from just inside the area
Ozil pictured firing his sumptuous volley past the stranded Elliot in the Newcastle goal on Saturday afternoon
Ozil has now been directly involved in six goals in his last five Premier League matches at the Emirates
Nacho Monreal and Joselu vie for the ball in the air in the chilly conditions in North London on the weekend
Sanchez fires a shot over the Newcastle crossbar as the hosts searched for an early goal to calm the nerves
Lacazette should have done better when he was put clean through on the goalkeeper but he tried to chip Elliot rather than lash the ball past him and his effort sailed harmlessly over the bar. When he was substituted 15 minutes from the end, though, a light sprinkling of boos met his withdrawal.
Arsenal might have doubled their lead soon afterwards when Sanchez curled a cross to the far post and it was only cleared to Wilshere who was lurking ten yards out. Wilshere met it cleanly on the half volley but Elliot blocked it with his legs and the sense of foreboding among the Arsenal fans grew.
Newcastle went close ten minutes from the end when Joselu’s shot took a deflection and went narrowly wide. Newcastle were suddenly in the ascendancy now and Ayoze Perez rose above the Arsenal defence to head across Cech. There was a nervous pause as Arsenal fans waited for the net to bulge but the header went wide, too.
The final whistle finally brought a measure of relief for the home support. But not much. There was some muted applause and a couple of cries of ‘Wenger Out’. A win is a win but there is a sense of drift and apathy in this corner of north London that feels as if it has set in for the winter.
Hector Bellerin has a shot deflected for a corner after the Gunners enjoyed possession early on in the top flight encounter
Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech leaps high in the air to catch the ball as both sets of players watch on intently
Arsenal players shake hands with their Newcastle counterparts before kick-off at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon
Arsenal collected money for their foundation on Saturday against Benitez’s Newcastle outfit