Arsenal on course for fourth place with 3-1 win at Newcastle
Arsenal continue to pile the pressure on Aston Villa after a 3-1 win against Newcastle United opened up a three-point gap between the rivals for Champions League football next year.
St James' Park, scene of Arsenal's 3-1 victory yesterday (photo: rich_w)
Although Villa still have a game in hand, Arsène Wenger’s men could be forgiven for thinking that the gap is as yawning as the 320 miles they travelled from London to St James’ Park.
A convincing display against the Magpies could have yielded more than the second-half strikes by Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri.
Bendtner put the Gunners ahead with a strong header from a perfectly weighted free-kick by Andrey Arshavin - the set piece given away by Ryan Taylor, who seemed to have Gael Clichy in a headlock and was lucky to escape further punishment from referee Mark Halsey.
The traditional score of 1-0 to the Arsenal didn’t last long, however. The hesitancy of former captain William Gallas gave Obafemi Martins a gilt-edged chance and the Nigerian coolly obliged.
It was just as well, as Martins had earlier missed a first-half penalty that would have given the Magpies the lead. After a bright start and sustained periods of early pressure, Halsey awarded the home side the spot-kick as Manuel Almunia collided with Ryan Taylor. The Spaniard redeemed himself immediately with a low save from Martins’ disappointing attempt.
Arsenal retook the lead within six minutes, but not without a hint of controversy. The tireless Steven Taylor was on the sidelines receiving treatment and the Gunners ploughed through the gap left in the Newcastle defence left by his absence. A sharp through-ball by Van Persie set up Diaby to hammer past Harper for 2-1. A more generous team might have put the ball out for a throw-in, but this was Arsenal at their most clinical and uncompromising.
Following Taylor’s injury, Newcastle had to cope with only three defenders, with Michael Owen taking the field in a bold gamble by Coach Chris Hughton to try and reassert his side’s stake in this game. Admittedly, with Sebastien Bassong already injured in the first half, Hughton had little choice but to go for broke.
The risky decision backfired and Arsenal put the game beyond contention after 66 minutes. Nasri produced an inch-perfect finish following another assist from the mercurial Van Persie. From here onwards the points were only ever going to North London.
Van Persie could have added his name to the score sheet twice before the final whistle - it took a strong stop from Harper to deny the Dutchman and as Geordie hopes faded, Van Persie came even closer, striking the post in the last ten minutes.
Arsenal now go into the international break swelling with confidence after a solid display, which extends their unbeaten league run to an impressive 15 matches - their longest since the 2003/04 unbeaten season. This team are not quite ‘Invincibles’ yet, but the performance showed another sign of their rich potential.
