Normally on the day after a match, I do a quick rewatch at 2x speed to confirm my notes and anything that I might have missed the first time around and then go into writing the debrief.
For this match my emotions were too high and I had trouble staying fully focused on actually writing things down after the first few referee decisions blew away my composure and then it was the stress of feeling like a big chance to close the gap on Liverpool would be lost.
I was dreading the reactions and just overall feeling so anxious. That was quickly turned into ecstasy in the final 10 minutes of the match as it was turned around from 1-0 to 2-1 and a famous come from behind victory against a team where it feels like there is a lot of mutual dislike.
I was not in a head space to do a lot of my best critical thinking and I needed this detailed rewatch, so come along with me and relive the match and hopefully pick up some stuff as we note and clip up the key points.
1st Half
1’ Joelinton comes in and just cleans out Saka from the side. That’s a borderline yellow there but you know the “it is early” and “it is Newcastle at home” so you’re not gonna get it. It does set up a good free kick opportunity. Rice has a good delivery and Gyokeres header is easily saved.
4’ This doesn’t come off but I like the intent here that is shown to try and go quick. I think that this has become something that is more of a hallmark of Arsenal’s game lately.
5’ Arsenal go long and they don’t win the first ball but they are able to get on the end of the second ball. This creates a chance to attack the Newcastle team not fully settled and it leads to a Timber cross that is cleared to Eze who has a great strike at it pushed just wide of the post.
7’ Arsenal are piling on the pressure here early. Timber combo with Saka sees him in zone 14 and he set up a decent shot chance for Gyokeres who slips and can’t make good contact. Next buildup Arsenal get Saka on Burn and he roasts him.
Maybe he should be doing better picking out a pass vs the easy save on cross/shot.
If he plays it low and hard through the corridor in between the defender and keeper I like the way Gokeres is positioned to win that race. Just mis hits it.
8’ One thing that frustrated me in this match was that Arsenal seemed to be looking for fouls. Sometimes they were actually fouled and didn’t get the call but often it felt like it was hunting the call and wanting a bit of being bailed out and it just isn’t going to be the case at Newcastle.
I like the idea again of going long and trying to quickly get up the field or to be in position to win the ball on the second chance. Gyokeres just needs to hold this a bit more and give his teammates time to support. I wonder if this type of flop can lead to doubt in other spots where a foul isn’t given but should have been.
Here are a couple of Mosquera clips. I am watching him back pretty closely.
This was a tough spot that he gets thrown into for this match to have to take up the role of Saliba and it did feel like he was maybe pushing a bit. The first clip he has space and tries something aggressive but its not on. I do like Saka giving him the lets calm down reaction after it. The second one there is more pressure and he tries a tough pass and he isn’t perfect with it and it leads to Newcastle winning it back in a dangerous spot.
Nerves and adrenaline probably playing a role here.
14’ Here is the first major flash point of the match.
From a cleared corner, Gabriel wins it off Bruno, Eze recovers and gets his head to play it into space for Saka. Saka tries a flick and it is blocked and then falls into space for Gyokeres to pounce on. He rounds the keeper and is taken out by the knee to knee contact from Pope. Foul called on the field.
Here is what Dale Johnson gives us in his VAR Review column for ESPN:
When the VAR has identified a play (defined in the laws as any touch of the ball) by Pope before he makes any contact with Gyökeres, it then becomes a question of how the goalkeeper made the challenge.
If Pope was deemed to have made an attempt to win the ball in a fair way, then the touch on the ball means there shouldn’t be a spot kick.
If Pope’s challenge is judged to be too strong, or reckless, then the touch on the ball wouldn’t negate the award of the penalty.
I am not an impartial person here but even with the touch he gets on the ball he has charged out and was beaten his play is reckless and the contact with his knee to Gyokeres’s knee impedes him.
From the back angle it again seems clear to my biased eyes that his touch on the ball doesn’t “win” it, rather it is incidental and was off of him rather than won by him, it doesn’t materially change the direction of the ball or really do anything to stop Gyokeres from being the first to the ball had he not been taken out.
Here is what the head of the PGMOL, Howard Webb said on the referee show after William Saliba was called for a penalty after a similar situation where he touched the ball but it was not enough to see him saved from a penalty. (I am not the greatest video editor and this is putting together two videos, my apologies on the slight repeat in the middle.)
I think that there is a strong argument that Pope’s touch matches the similar standards.
It’s overturned and Arsenal do not have a penalty here. The salt in the wound is that because when there is a VAR intervention it is restarted with a drop ball and a drop ball in the penalty area always goes to the defending team it means that Arsenal lose out on an attacking opportunity.
This is the last big moment of the first quarter of the match. Arsenal had the better chances but it was pretty even overall on possession and actually had Newcastle with a bit more of the action in the final third (they had a number of corner kicks in succession that had Arsenal pushed back).
25’ Arsenal produces a flowing move started by Timber winning the ball back and has a good bit of hold up from Gyokeres before it ends with Trossard in space taking a shot that goes off the post.
On these there can be a question of is this batter to pass or shot from and I think the shot here is the best choice, he’s got a clear view of the goal and there is not a teammate in a better spot.
The second part is near or far post for the aim, and I think the right answer is to randomize and not be predictable always doing the same thing. Trossard ultimately goes near post and with power and it high enough that Pope cannot get his hands up to stop it. I think it is a well-executed finish just misses by a few inches.
29’ Arsenal have a throw in and we see them do the long throw. It bounces awkwardly and it is only partially cleared and sets up Eze with a volley that he connects well with and forces a good save from Pope.
32’ Arsenal win the ball back through Zubimendi and then have a quick counterattack through Saka.
Saka gets a decent shot here but he can’t quite get enough separation from Burn to make this a massive chance and it ends up as a fairly routine save. He is still probably lacking a little bit of that burst since coming back from his injury.
34’ The ball is going a bit back and forth with no one really in control. It comes back into the Arsenal half and Mosquera is first to the ball but has some pressure. He tries to play the back pass to Raya but he slices it and it goes out for a corner kick.
From this corner Newcastle play it short and take advantage of the 2v1 opportunity to get into a good angle for the cross into the box. Woltemade gives Gabriel a two hand nudge in the back and that gives him the separation on the header, and he puts into the corner.
1-0 Newcastle.
I know Gabriel complains about it but even me at my most partisan can’t really get behind saying that this is enough of a push to be a foul. There just really isn’t any force there and it’s very mild for what happens on a set play. I have seen Gabriel play through significantly more contact like it is nothing and he takes a risk trying to buy the foul vs challenging for the ball.
After this goal, you can see that the Arsenal players are really feeling aggrieved by the decisions overall in the match. They wanted the penalty, they wanted the foul here, and the frustration is rising.
You could see another just after restart where Trossard goes down by the corner flag and gets nothing and he’s frustrated.
Saka goes down under contact after cutting in and gets nothing.
Eze just a few moments later has a similar situation where he goes down and wants a foul and gets nothing.
The Arsenal players just seem to have lost their cool here after the goal. Another sign of this was that right after the kickoff following the goal Gabriel goes and targets Woltemade and that was not a smart decision from him.
I’ll try and be consistent here and say he is probably a bit lucky because that is not a play that is sporting and I think can and maybe even should be punished by a red card. That isn’t how things have been called (as we all are well aware of from a worse example in this same fixture) in the past but it is still quite bad.
Back to playing a bit more now…
40’ Arsenal win a loose ball and we get a nice heads up quick pass from Trossard to feed Gyokeres with space to run into.
Malick Thiaw is able to run with him and Gyokeres can’t turn this into a shot.
45+2’ We see here another example of how potent the weapon of going long from Raya was in this match. Good duel from Gyokeres and then a nice second ball win from Rice. He gets it to Saka who feeds Timber. Just breaks down as he tries to put on the brakes and slips in the box.
45+3’ Arsenal try and counter attack again. It is started with good hustle from Gyokeres to chase down and win a 50/50, he sets Saka away. Saka maybe has a chance to try and play him into space but doesn’t, he instead tries to split Tonali and Gordon and I think is fouled but he doesn’t get the decision.
45+7’ Nothing major comes from this but I wanted to highlight this pass and the overall quickness and one touch play. Declan Rice cuts out three defenders here with that pass and Trossard just doesn’t get his weight/direction of pass perfect otherwise that could have been something super special.
That’s the last notable action of the first half.
Here are the stats from the first half.
Arsenal end up with more of the ball and more final third possession. They double the shots and xG but they are down. Ultimately, I thought the first time that they were superior and that doesn’t change on the rewatch. Outside of a few minutes where I think Arsenal had lost their composure from some of the referee calls they played really well. They mixed building from the back and playing long, the speed at the movement of the ball was quite good and they were able to get into dangerous locations over and over again.
2nd Half
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