Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the Premier League season after going down 1-0 to Newcastle United on Saturday night.
Premier League
Result: Newcastle United 1-0 Arsenal
Date: 04 November 2023
Venue: St Jame's Park
Club Martin Odegaard was left out of the squad completely as Kai Havertz was granted a start in midfield, while Eddie Howe went with the same team that started against Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
The Gunners enjoyed a good record at St Jame's Park over the years, having won eight of their last ten visits in the Premier League.
The game got off to a cagey start, with both sides feeling each other out in the opening 20 minutes of the first half as chances were few and far between on both ends.
It was Newcastle who carved out the game's first chance on 29 minutes when Callum Wilson lost his marker and connected with a teasing cross, but the England striker balzed over the crossbar from close-range.
That proved to be the trend for the remainder of the half, although there were a lot more tackles flying in that did spark a few flare ups between the two players.
With the score still evenly poised on the hour mark, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe introduced former Gunners midfielder Joe Wilock and and Jacob Murphy for Callum Willson and Miguel Almiron.
A couple minutes later, the changes paid off as Murphy did well to keep the ball in the play and his cross caused trouble in the box, which ended with Anthony Gordon smashing into an empty net, with VAR confirming the goal.
It took a while for Mikel Arteta to responded, but he introduced Leandro Trossard and Fabio Vieria for the final ten minutes as Eddie Nketiah and Jorginho made way at the same time.
The changes could not make the desired effect for the visitors, who now suffer their first defeat of the season and miss the chance to move level on points with league leaders Manchester City.
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