Arsenal show title mettle to capitalise on Liverpool slip-up

Football writer Alex Keble analyses Arsenal's 2-1 win at Newcastle United on Sunday.

The Arsenal players bear-hugged one another as if this was a victory in May that had brought the Premier League title within reach, and yet nobody would dare to suggest that Arsenal were "over-celebrating" at the final whistle at St James' Park.

This could prove to be the single biggest victory of the Mikel Arteta era to date.

With 83 minutes on the clock Arsenal looked down and out. Suggestions that the Gunners lacked urgency, lacked fight, lacked some short-lived quality that forges champions, were nagging at them.

Liverpool had lost the previous day but Arsenal were failing to capitalise. Memories of the destructive 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United in November 2023, when a late Anthony Gordon goal was controversially given by VAR, rose to the surface.

As they say: you can’t win the Premier League in autumn, but you can lose it.

They did not.

Mikel Merino rose, then Gabriel Magalhaes rose, and Arsenal completely rewrote the script.

Watch Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal highlights

Arsenal’s comeback could be the catalyst to a first league title

All of a sudden, concerns about Arsenal’s temperament and their ability to handle pressure have melted away.

This was a statement win to top all statement wins: a victory that required Arsenal to dig deep, to overcome adversity after a tetchy first half of 50-50 refereeing decisions, and to exorcise the ghosts of so many missed opportunities over the past three seasons.

When a first-half penalty awarded to Arsenal was overturned by VAR, what followed was a familiar scene.

The Arsenal players were incensed, remonstrating even after play had restarted. Arteta smiled sardonically. Gabriel pushed Nick Woltemade.

In the past, those kinds of incidents have knocked Arsenal off course. Not today.

Arsenal are second, just two points behind Liverpool, and for all the hand-wringing about attitude and handbrakes, Arteta’s side can only really be accused of one disappointing result from six: a narrow defeat to a wonder goal at the home of the champions.

Not bad. In fact, significantly better than this time last season, when Arsenal were getting silly red cards and failing to win matches like today’s.

Arsenal, for the first time since 2023/24, can look ahead with genuine belief in their ability to fight back, to score late winners, and to push their title rivals all the way.

Super-subs and set-piece goals make the difference

Some eyebrows were raised when Merino was brought on, but the aerial advantage he gave Arsenal was felt immediately, long before he eventually scored a header from a corner.

In the sixth minute of stoppage time, it was another substitute, Martin Odegaard, who assisted Gabriel’s winner, again from a corner; Arsenal have now scored 36 goals from corners in the Premier League since the start of the 2023/24 season, 15 more than any other side.

Arteta must be praised for his substitutes, even if they weren’t exactly challenging ones to make. Merino is Arsenal’s top goalscorer in all competitions in 2025, with nine, and Odegaard is, well, Odegaard.

But it does point to the added depth Arsenal possess this season compared to last.

A combination of two subs, Gabriel Martinelli and Eberechi Eze, linked up for the late equaliser against Manchester City last weekend.

There are serious attacking options on the Arsenal bench these days. This won’t be the last time we see an Arsenal super-sub rescue points this season.

First half proves handbrake talk is overblown

Although in the end it was the familiar set-pieces that turned this match around, it’s worth mentioning just how slick, fast, and vertically Arsenal played in the first half (slowing down in the second only because Newcastle dropped into a deep 5-4-1, as discussed below).

The Gunners appeared keen to play the ball forward quickly and often, attempting to get Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka in behind, usually via the excellent Eze.

Eze is a more agile and ball-carrying No 10 than Odegaard, giving Arsenal a more straight-lined approach, and although the visitors didn’t score in the first half, they were the better side, attempting nine shots on goal, of which Eze had three.

It was evidence that the chatter about handbrakes has been overblown.

Here, Arteta threw on multiple attacking substitutions, but even before that, he set his side up to play with dynamism and flair, something he only ever dials down for the rare fixtures against the level of Man City and Liverpool.

Arsenal richly deserved the win, and they did it playing the football that has consistently defined the Arteta era.

It was a "massive statement," Arteta told Sky Sports. "That’s how you get to a different level, by going through those moments.

"We insisted, we believed, we maintained our composure."

Howe’s drop to a 5-4-1 ultimately backfired

Newcastle were arguably unlucky to see it slip so late on: this was the second-latest Arsenal have trailed in a Premier League match and gone on to win, after a 3-1 win over Norwich City in April 2013 in which Arteta scored the equaliser.

But perhaps Howe invited the pressure. He dropped his team significantly deeper in the second half, first switching to a 5-4-1 formation, with Gordon as a left wing-back, then making conservative substitutions to reinforce the defensive third.

Gordon and Woltemade, Newcastle’s two best attackers on the day, were taken off in the 67th minute in order bolster the defence.

As a result the hosts couldn’t get out and, falling deeper and deeper, kept conceding set-pieces – until Arsenal found their range.

Those final two corners completely change the narrative around Arsenal’s season.

They can breathe a huge sigh of relief that a very tough start – Old Trafford, Anfield, St James' Park, and Man City at home – was navigated almost unscathed.

A string of winnable fixtures are coming up and Arsenal are already within touching distance of the summit.

Who knows, come May, Arsenal fans might look back upon Gabriel’s late winner as one of the most significant goals in the club’s modern history.