Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0 – Can they take title race to the wire? Are Howe’s side in the relegation fight?
Arsenal are back on top of the Premier League after beating Newcastle United 1-0 in an edgy game at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta’s side were knocked off the top for the first time since October in midweek but with Manchester City playing in an FA Cup semi-final (they won 2-1 against Southampton) on Saturday, they were able to restore a three-point advantage with this victory.
Eberechi Eze scored the only goal after nine minutes, a superb curling finish after Arsenal decided to deploy short corners against Newcastle’s big back four. Arsenal now have four league games remaining, while City have five, though it was not all good news for the north Londoners.
With only 47 days until the World Cup, there were concerning injuries for two Arsenal players, with Kai Havertz going off after 34 minutes and then Eze needing to be substituted too, early in the second half.
Newcastle, meanwhile, wasted good chances for Will Osula, again chosen to start up front, and Yoane Wissa, who came off the bench, and are just two points above the four clubs fighting to avoid being relegated with already-down Wolves and Burnley — though they are still eight clear of Tottenham, who are 18th.
The Athletic’s Art de Roche and Chris Waugh break down the key talking points.
Can Arsenal take the title race to the wire?
Arsenal carried elements of their promising performance in defeat against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last weekend into the first half of this game, but those moments of quality were dependent on the players who were available to Arteta.
When Eze and Havertz were on the pitch, the pair combined nicely with Martin Odegaard in central areas in a similar fashion to that game with City. Aside from those short corners, Eze had the freedom to drift into the centre circle at times, which gave Newcastle different defensive problems to solve.
Arsenal collectively struggled to keep the match under control once Havertz and Eze were forced off, however. Long balls up to the front line did not stick, which allowed the match to become way more transitional than Arteta would have liked.
His team had their fair share of counter-attacking opportunities, but decision-making in the final third kept them from killing the game off — which has been a common theme this season.
That was typified in added time. Piero Hincapie had excellently regained possession against Anthony Elanga and played Viktor Gyokeres in behind. The centre-forward somehow failed to find one of the three team-mates supporting him in a four-v-one situation, keeping the game open right until the end of the seven added minutes.
If Arsenal are to take this title race down to the wire, more composure across the team is a necessity. They may have lost some of that with the exits of Eze and Havertz, but Arteta will be thankful Bukayo Saka, who came on in the 81st minute, is now back from injury to reinstate some of the calm that will make his side a threat over the remaining four matches.
Art de Roche
How did Arsenal surprise Newcastle?
Arsenal had only played six short corners in the Premier League all season before Saturday, so three in quick succession against Newcastle showed this was a clear strategy — even if there were groans from the crowd after the second one.
Eze being the player perched on the edge of the penalty area was a sign by the time that second short corner was attempted.
Regular readers may already be familiar with this quote, but speaking about Eze earlier this season, Arteta said: “He has such a quality and capacity to finish actions in different ways that we need to play him very close to the box. The more he spends time there, the better for the team.”
Arsenal themselves conceded an Eze goal from a corner last season in his Crystal Palace days, so finding a way to make use of his quality in that area was intelligent.
While some may blame Newcastle for not heeding the warning signs from the first two such corners, those were both played to Odegaard near the corner flag. For the one Eze scored, Noni Madueke did well to find Havertz inside the box instead, catching out the two Newcastle defenders who followed Odegaard.
This was only Arsenal’s third goal in the opening 10 minutes of a Premier League match all season. That tally is fewer than each of their past three campaigns, which has contributed to some nervy matches this term, but such a sublime effort helped settle the Emirates crowd — until Havertz came off injured after 34 minutes at least.
Eze was forced to depart with injury himself early in the second half and Arteta will hope the issue is not too serious as Arsenal’s best football in recent weeks has come with him on the pitch.
“I think the stadium was a bit annoyed we took it short a few times,” said Odegaard after the game. “But it paid off in the end.”
Art de Roche
Did Bruno Guimaraes improve Newcastle?
For the first time since February 10, Bruno Guimaraes, Newcastle’s talismanic skipper, was available to start a match. He had missed 12 games due to a hamstring problem and then a bout of the mumps, before coming on as a second-half substitute against Bournemouth last weekend.
When the Brazilian is in the XI, Newcastle are an entirely different proposition. He demands the ball, takes responsibility and always looks to make things happen. Without him, Eddie Howe’s men lack intent and invention.
Against Arsenal today, Guimaraes had mixed success when it came to the outcome of his actions, but taking risks in possession gave a dimension to this Newcastle side which had been sorely missing recently.
Bruno Guimaraes started for Newcastle for the first time since February 10 (Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images)
Howe altered his system, playing what appeared to be a 4-1-4-1 formation, with one of Sandro Tonali and Guimaraes taking a turn sitting, with the other advancing, before swapping, then with Joe Willock almost in a free role. Newcastle looked far more purposeful as a result, and had the better of the first half.
Despite having nine shots during those opening 45 minutes, however, their inability to create clear-cut chances, even with Guimaraes on the pitch, meant they did not capitalise on their promising passing through the lines. After the break, Newcastle dominated possession but laboured and carved out few true goalscoring opportunities, before Guimaraes went off after 75 minutes.
Even when Guimaraes is not fully fit, as he clearly still isn’t, he improves Newcastle immeasurably.
Whether he can wrestle back some positive momentum and ensure Howe’s side claim some victories in their final four games of the season is another question.
Chris Waugh
Are Newcastle in the relegation battle?
All logic tells you otherwise.
This correspondent has basically dismissed that narrative in recent weeks even as Newcastle supporters have become increasingly twitchy, given all the defeats — and, as unlikely as it is, that scenario is not actually entirely out of the question, and becomes less inconceivable with every passing loss.
Victories for Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Tottenham this weekend have reduced the gap to 14th-placed Newcastle (on 42 points) to three, six and eight points respectively. Leeds in 15th have 40.
With each club now having just four matches remaining, Newcastle should already have enough points. Only West Ham in 2002-03 have gone down with 42 or more points in a 38-game top-flight season.
Regardless, Newcastle’s form is that of relegation fodder. It is now nine defeats in 12 Premier League matches and five in succession in all competitions. They have no positive momentum whatsoever and every one of their remaining matches appears laced with danger, especially considering Howe’s team have also lost five of their past six league games at St James’ Park.
West Ham’s trip to Tyneside in the second-last game of the season could be massive, should Newcastle fail to pick up points in their next two outings.
Newcastle should be a Premier League side again next season, but the fact that is even a point which requires asserting in late April shows how lamentable their 2025-26 top-flight campaign has been.
Chris Waugh
What next for Arsenal?
Wednesday, April 29: Atletico Madrid (Away), Champions League semi-final first leg, 8pm UK, 3pm ET
What next for Newcastle?
Saturday, May 2: Brighton (Home), Premier League, 3pm UK, 10am ET
