“Job done,” read the tweet on Arsenal’s official account at the end. But that was the most positive thing you could say about this 1-0 win over a floundering Newcastle side who finished the day in the bottom three. At the final whistle, the most positive emotion you could sense around the ground was relief.
Many of those present had shuffled out to do something rather better with their evening before the end: the PA announcer’s suggestion as the teams trooped off that the highlights of the game would shortly be available on the big screen was not met with any great enthusiasm.
A moment of brilliance decided the game, Mesut Özil’s superb first-half volley being wholly unrepresentative of the fare on offer during the other 89 minutes. Beyond that, Arsenal displayed what has broadly been their problem for much of the season, namely not taking any of the chances they create. By the end they were almost clinging on, not the sort of thing you expect with such a gulf in quality.
“We had plenty of chances we didn’t take,” said Arsène Wenger. “We wanted sometimes to force it and maybe it played a little bit on our minds that we hadn’t taken our chances recently. I would have liked it to be a bit more comfortable, but we have played three games in six days.”
As for Newcastle, their players decided amongst themselves this week that, in deference to their terrible recent results, they would cancel their Christmas party. On this evidence, they look like they could do with a drink.
It is not that they were dreadful, but this defeat was their eighth in the past nine matches and they are heading in one direction. They desperately need Amanda Staveley’s proposed takeover, and the January additions that it might bring, to happen without further delay.
Benítez emphasised this point after the game, pointing to his side’s youth. But the repetition of his dissatisfaction over the state his squad was left in after the summer does start to wear a little thin when you compare his team with the other promoted sides. Huddersfield and Brighton did not spend excessively but unlike Newcastle neither of them are on a run of one point from the past possible 27.
Perhaps a little surprisingly, the first exchanges were pretty open. Newcastle sat deep and defended tightly, but with enough attacking intent on the counter to suggest that they were not just there to dig in. But it was Arsenal who took the lead, brilliantly, after 23 minutes.
A Florian Lejeune header went only as far as an off-balance Özil just inside the area: a controlling touch seemed like the most sensible, safe option but players such as Özil have the ability to make the safe look foolish. He swivelled on his right leg, languidly swept his left to around thigh-height and sent an exquisite volley into the top-corner. It was as perfect an exhibition of technique as you are likely to see.
“It’s important that he takes the risk to do that,” said Wenger. “Ninety-nine per cent of the time in this position he would control and give the ball to someone else.” When asked if he was confident that Özil would sign a new contract, Wenger offered the verbal equivalent of a slightly tired shrug. “I’m confident, yes: what that means I don’t know,” he said.
Arsenal dominated the rest of the half in the sort of laidback way a team in their position tends to, with the expectation that more goals were just around the corner. But none came, despite Héctor Bellerín, Granit Xhaka and Özil all going close.
Newcastle were given a little injection of hope after the break. The Arsenal defence, perhaps joining their forwards in the presumption that the three points were in the bag, allowed Jacob Murphy to pick his spot from the edge of the area, but luckily for them Petr Cech had continued to pay attention and saved well to his left.
As time ticked on and Arsenal failed to find a second, it began to feel as if they were holding on. Newcastle had not offered a huge amount by way of attacking threat but when they did venture forward Arsenal’s failure to kill things off meant nerves spread around the stadium.
Never more so than when Mikel Merino was offered far too much time on the edge of the area, his shot took a deflection, and everyone froze as it skipped just wide of a post. Ayoze Pérez then went close with a header and from what should have been a routine, comfortable win, Arsenal looked as if they were going to, well, be Arsenal about things. But in the end they kept Newcastle at bay. Job done. Just.
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