Arsenal were held to a 0-0 draw by a dogged Newcastle at the Emirates on Tuesday night, opening the door for Manchester City to close the gap at the top of the Premier League table.
It was a resolute display by the third-placed Magpies, frustrating Arsenal by flooding the penalty area and double-teaming their wingers every time they touched the ball, limiting Arsenal’s ability to enter the box.
The game showcased why Eddie Howe’s side have the best defensive record in the top flight, having conceded only 11 goals in 18 games, but Arsenal were still able to fashion 17 attempts on goal and could well have walked away with a victory on another day.
Disappointment in a draw against the current third-best team in the division, in a way, highlights how good a season the Gunners are having, but results like this are the ones Arsenal may look back on with regret come May given how fine the margins at the top have been in recent years.
With Newcastle setting up to frustrate, the need for an attacking change felt increasingly necessary to mix up Arsenal’s plan of attack and test them in different ways, but when Mikel Arteta looked over to his bench there was a lack of game-changers and match-winners.
Arsenal have triumphed off the back of momentum for much of the season, whether it be scoring the first goal or sustaining pressure in the opposition third, and have rarely needed to change things up drastically to get a result.
But when things aren’t quite going their way, the Gunners lack the depth of a team like Manchester City to dig out a result, and perhaps Arsenal’s bid for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk will increase a little as a result of this stalemate.
The lack of options was also apparent in midfield. Granit Xhaka had a good game but in crucial moments lacked the dynamism that Martin Odegaard, and even Oleksandr Zinchenko, showed during the match, and when he picked up a yellow card early in the second half, a change could have made all the difference.
Arsenal will look to return to winning ways as they kick off their FA Cup campaign away at League One side Oxford United on Monday as the record 14-time winners go in search of another trophy.
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