For the second time in as many seasons, Arsenal depart Tyneside knowing that their fate is not in their hands. That, however, is the only comparison that can be drawn between their last two visits to the cauldron that is St. James' Park. This 2-0 win on Sunday might not be enough to snare top spot from Manchester City but they do at least look like a team ready to make Pep Guardiola and company fight it out for the Premier League title all May.
Their captain would not allow anything else. Under the weight of remorseless Newcastle pressure from the outset, Martin Odegaard delivered with a lightness of touch, gliding across every heavy challenge. The 24-year-old has never been here before, chasing the best team in Europe as his own team endeavor to prove that the blip was April, not the seven months that preceded it. What he and the rest of the Arsenal midfield delivered was a performance worthy of champions. Perhaps not this year, perhaps not yet. It is hard to believe, however, that a team of such quality and character will never get their moment.
A year ago, Arsenal had frozen under the lights, a callow young side riddled with injuries, seemingly convinced that their season was done, blowing their hopes of a top-four finish. Physically, technically, and emotionally: Newcastle had bullied Odegaard and his teammates on that night. They set about to repeat the trick on Sunday. Both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Granit Xhaka had their pockets picked in their own third. Jacob Murphy rattled the post, Joe Willock went close and for a moment Bruno Guimaraes thought he had a penalty after his shot clattered against Jakub Kiwior. On first viewing it seemed a clear case of handball but the VAR overturn was a logical one, the ball clipping the thigh as Kiwior attempted to move his arm behind his back.
In such circumstances, the Arsenal that their critics claimed they were after the dropped points against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton would surely have subsided. Instead, they resorted to their factory settings. Newcastle wanted to press them? Then they would simply work the ball around them. They were shrewd enough to know that pumping the ball into a penalty area patrolled by Dan Burn was an invitation to ceding possession and so their 14th-minute corner was worked short to Odegaard on the edge of the area, a laser through the tangle flying into Nick Pope's bottom corner.
Arsenal might have had more. Jorginho and Zinchenko were press impervious, acutely aware of when and where Odegaard needed the ball. As Arsenal flew forward you were reminded of Mesut Ozil's team, runners to the left and right, the playmaker nearly always delivering the right pass at the right moment. Gabriel Martinelli poked too close to Pope off a gorgeous through ball from his captain. Saka went even closer to the Newcastle goalkeeper seconds after, slapping an effort into his chest.
Space seemed to emerge wherever Odegaard found himself, his first touch invariably took Arsenal forwards, acting as the prompt for the front three to fly into action. His first half alone deserved a second goal. On the stroke of the break Pope denied him.
Those behind Odegaard were no less effective. Jorginho was the consummate safety valve when the Newcastle press came in the direction of Gabriel Magalhaes and Kiwior. In one brilliant block on Willock, Xhaka seemed to make amends for all those times early in his Arsenal career when he dawdled on his way toward danger.
For a time Newcastle didn't have much of an answer beyond nudges and needles. Fabian Schar's tackle on Xhaka was late enough to belong in the 2023-24 season. Cynical trips such as Guimaraes' on Saka when Chris Kavanagh's back was turned need to be clamped down on next term. Their physical qualities have won them many admirers in the Premier League and there should be a place for it. However, one could not shake the sense that they were being firm, not fair when Schar clattered into Jesus, elbow first, on the right touchline.
They did not have to resort to bully ball to win the game. On another day Aaron Ramsdale would not have saved so spectacularly from Schar, iron wrists parrying a header from four yards out to safety. Alexander Isak's header might have crept in too. The second half's razor-fine moments favored Arsenal, whose lead was doubled when Schar turned Martinelli's cross in at the near post.
Arsenal had ridden the tough moments and had shown their steel under a level of intensity that they felt to be excessive. It may mean little for their title challenge this season. They still need two teams to do them a favor against Manchester City. Here, though, was a sign that Mikel Arteta's side are not going anywhere in the years to come.
