Match Report: Toothless Arsenal Battle Past 10-man Newcastle

The resolve of Arsene Wenger's squad is something that has been questioned ever since they last won the Premier League title back in 2004. The theory is that Arsenal struggle against teams that get physical with them and it's is something that has come to the fore once again following their unconvincing start to the new season.

Understandably, rather than looking to outplay Arsene Wenger’s side, Newcastle United looked to test Arsenal’s mettle with the same physical approach that has drawn them so much criticism in recent years. Unfortunately, however, their approach was borderline barbaric.

Steve McClaren’s side already had three men on a yellow and one sent off after just 26 minutes at St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon. This isn’t new, however. Disciplinary problems have cost Newcastle on numerous occasions over the last two years; in fact, the Magpies have receieved more red cards (9) than any other team since the start of last season.

This isn’t a feat that looks likely to ever improve with Alexander Mitrovic leading the line for them. McClaren’s £13m summer signing arrived with a reputation for being hot under the collar and the 20-year-old hasn’t shown any attempt to play down his pantomime villain notoriety. In just 128 minutes of Premier League action, the Serbian striker has been booked twice and sent off once. No Newcastle player to have featured in all four of their league games this season has a lower WhoScored rating than Mitrovic (6.09).

To their credit, Newcastle rallied with 10-men and could count themselves unlucky to have lost the game in the manner in which they did. Although, Wenger will contest they should have had a penalty in the early on when Hector Bellerin was clearly fouled by Floran Thauvin.

Arsenal dominated possession (68.5%) and had 22 shots on goal, but they failed to give any substantial evidence that would suggest that could challenge Chelsea or Manchester City for the title this season. Wenger’s decision to start with Theo Walcott up front instead of Olivier Giroud - a player that had scored eight goals in six games against Newcastle before today - was partly to blame. With Walcott offering no aerial threat, Arsenal’s play was predictably narrow.

Even when Walcott had the goal at his mercy, he still managed to blaze over from close range. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s WhoScored rating of 6.23 was the only reason why Walcott (6.25) didn’t finish as Arsenal’s worse player. This was the first time the pair had started a Premier League match together since August 2013, and based on this showing; Arsenal fans may be in for another lengthy wait before seeing them start together again.

It was thanks to Oxlade-Chamberlain that Arsenal came away with all three points and continued their fine form away from home that hasn’t seem them lose on their travels since early February. Tim Krul finished the match as the WhoScored man of the match with a rating of 8.40 and was unfortunate to end up on the losing side, but he could do nothing when Fabricio Coloccini’s outstretched boot deflected the Ox’s low drive in off his far post 7 minutes after the interval. As for McClaren, he will go into the first international break of the season still searching for his first league win as Newcastle manager.

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