Newcastle United are on form ahead of the Champions League second leg at Borussia Dortmund: The Magpies beat Arsenal, the next top team in the Premier League, on Saturday evening. For the Gunners, international Havertz was lucky not to be sent off
Newcastle followed up their 3:0 away win at Manchester United on Wednesday evening with their second national exclamation mark – in parallel to the Bundesliga top match, which BVB clearly lost to Bayern. The Magpies got off to a flying start against Arsenal, but the pressure quickly ebbed away.
The fast-paced, intense duel lacked only a few clear-cut goalscoring opportunities, which Wilson was to change shortly before the 30-minute mark. After a free-kick variation, Burn headed on to his attacker, who shot over the crossbar from close range under pressure (29′).
Havertz attacked – Bruno Guimaraes close to assault
The match then became increasingly heated and reached its climax in the 37th minute: Havertz red-flagged Longstaff on the touchline and a scuffle ensued. But because the German international only saw a yellow card, tempers flared – in addition to the fouled Longstaff, Gordon and Schär were also cautioned for protesting.
In the final moves before the break, the horses ran away with Bruno Guimaraes, who was on the verge of assault. The Brazilian first clearly hit Jorginho on the head with his elbow, then he buttoned up Rice. Referee Stuart Attwell inexplicably decided not to show a card this time
After the break, Gordon had the best chance to take the lead, but took too much time with his shot from the left-hand corner of the five-yard box and was denied by White (54). Ten minutes later, the 22-year-old Englishman scored the golden goal – but it sparked controversy.
Joker Willock just about kept the ball in play, crossed to Joelinton at the second post via Raya and Gordon fired into the empty net. The VAR then had some hard work to do: First they checked whether the ball had already passed the baseline before Willock’s cross, then suddenly whether Joelinton had fouled opponent Gabriel during his push, and finally a possible offside by Gordon. However, the goal withstood the three checks
Idle Gunners lose for the first time in the league
After that, Arsenal threw everything forward and coach Mikel Arteta made offensive changes – to no avail. The uninspired Gunners did not embarrass Newcastle keeper Pope once again. After their first league defeat, the visitors are now three points behind Manchester City, while Tottenham (currently two points ahead) could even pull further away on Monday.
