Arsenal Conquers Toon Army 3-1

March 23, 2009

Arsene Wenger’s men furthered the gap over Aston Villa this weekend after a solid performance at St James Park on Saturday.

Despite having quite a few familiar faces still unavailable to injury, including Adebayor, Eduardo, Fabregas and recently Theo Walcott, Arsenal looked strong throughout the match and was able to use an early penalty save by Almunia to turn the tide in their favour.

Almunia’s foul on Peter Lovenkrands in the box gave the home side a chance to take a lead on 23’, but a fine save against penalty-taker Obafemi Martins kept the game even as both sides continued to trade blows. It looked like 1-0 to the Arsenal on 44’ as van Persie connected with a shot destined for net, but the timely intervention of a sliding Steven Taylor ensured the game remained deadlocked at half-time.

The attack belonged largely to Newcastle after the break, but it was Arsenal that grabbed the first of the game. A set piece taken by Arshavin on 57’ was met by a jumping Bendtner, who was able to flick it beyond the reach of Toon keeper Steve Harper.

The lead was to be short lived however, as Newcastle dramatically stormed back to equalize less than sixty seconds later. Sloppy defending gave Obafemi Martins a chance and he made no mistake, delighting the local fans as the game went back to all-square.

Arsenal retook the lead again only five minutes later. Steven Taylor’s treatment on the sideline left a sizeable gap in the centre of defence for the Magpies, allowing van Persie to link up with Diaby who powered the ball into the top of the net. Perhaps insult to injury, Taylor would be forced to come off as he was unable to continue.

Nasri dealt the final blow to Newcastle in the 66th minute, which seemed to completely demoralize the Toon squad. The remainder of the game was predominantly the Gunners’ as they slowed the pace down and worked the ball around the Newcastle players; creating several chances that could have easily been goals on another night.

Having taken all three points on Saturday, Arsenal fans got another piece of welcome news on Sunday as Villa were devastated by a surging Liverpool side 5-0 at Anfield. The results leave Arsenal three points above Villa for the 4th and final Champions League birth with a substantial +14 over the Villans on goal differential.

Both squads will have a chance to regroup and prepare for the last push of the season as we now head into an international break; Arsenal’s next match is April 4th against Manchester City before an April 7th Champions League clash with Villarreal.

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