Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: 5 things we learned from

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LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 16: Petr Cech of Arsenal shows appreciation to the fans after the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on December 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

Arsenal hosted Newcastle United in the Premier League in desperate need of a win after just two points from their last nine. Here are five things we learned from the 1-0 victory.

In their last two matches against bottom-half Southampton and West Ham United, per Opta statistics, Arsenal had failed to create any ‘big chances’. While that is a difficult statistic to define properly, it did provide a good measure of what was obvious in watching: the Arsenal attack was failing to engineer opportunities. They were not especially better against Newcastle United on Saturday — just five shots on target from 23 total shots, for example. But there were improvements nonetheless. It’s what led to the hard-earned 1-0 win.

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Here are five things we learned.

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 16: Isaac Hayden of Newcastle United tackles Alex Iwobi of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Newcastle United at Emirates Stadium on December 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /

5. Infuriating Alex Iwobi flickers

Alex Iwobi is a clearly talented player. Intelligent in his movement, able to seek out and exploit those pockets of space in between the opposing midfield and defence, with a soft and subtle touch, and creative and insightful vision, the Nigerian international has moments of play where his natural ability seems obvious.

Against Newcastle, for example, Iwobi completed five dribbles. Other than Jack Wilshere, who also completed five dribbles, no other Arsenal player made more than two. And some of those dribbles were in extremely tight spaces, where his quick feet, sharp agility and explosive balance were on full show.

But he is inconsistent, especially with his end product. There was one moment where broke forward from midfield, driving at an exposed Newcastle defence. He had Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette flanked across the pitch. Options were aplenty, to his left and right. Iwobi not only chose the wrong one, trying to pass the ball to Alexis, but he played the pass behind him, stalling the move. He flickered his quality this afternoon — four chances created, for example, but it came in frustrating bursts.