Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: 5 things we learned – Game of two halves

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on September 15, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 15: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team's second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on September 15, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /
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NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 15: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on September 15, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 15: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal with team mates during the Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal FC at St. James Park on September 15, 2018 in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images) /

Arsenal travelled to Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon to continue their Premier League. Here are five things we learned from the 2-0 win.

It took a while for Arsenal to click into gear against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon. Once they did, Newcastle had very little to slow down their fluent, dynamic attacking play. The second-half improvements did require some rather major tinkering on the behalf of Unai Emery, but the changes that he made had a substantial impact on the performance and the result.

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Here are five things we learned from the 2-0 victory.

CARDIFF, WALES – SEPTEMBER 02: Lucas Torreira of Arsenal celebrates after the Premier League match between Cardiff City and Arsenal FC at Cardiff City Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
CARDIFF, WALES – SEPTEMBER 02: Lucas Torreira of Arsenal celebrates after the Premier League match between Cardiff City and Arsenal FC at Cardiff City Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

5. Lucas Torreira makes everyone better

Lucas Torreira came on at half-time. The whole game changed as soon as he took the pitch. He himself didn’t have that much of an impact on the game directly. It was instead the influence that his presence has on every player around him. Torreira makes everyone better.

Most notably, Granit Xhaka looked like a different player before and after the half. Gone were his tentative, delaying touches, replaced with assertive, forward-thinking passing. He drove the game forwards, rather than inviting pressure onto him and his team. He also scored the first goal and provided the key piece of quality in the build-up to the second.

More than just Xhaka, however, Torreira provided greater cover for the centre-backs, he allowed Mesut Ozil to drift throughout the pitch with Hector Bellerin finding himself overrun at right back, and he provided service into the feet of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, bringing both into a more prominent role. Torreira makes everyone better.