Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: Gritty win to build road form on

Arsenal’s solid but unspectacular win against Newcastle United proved they can win tough away games. It is something to build on throughout the upcoming season.

Arsenal were clinical in their chances, organized in their defending and disciplined in their positioning throughout Sunday’s 1-0 season-opening win over Newcastle United. Coming into the game, there were a lot of reasons why the team might drop points. Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac were unavailable due to security concerns. Dani Ceballos and Alexandre Lacazette were carrying injuries. Steve Bruce’s Newcastle side would surely be looking to clog the middle, soak up pressure and score on the counter-attack.

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That game plan was successfully deployed against Arsenal with alarming frequency last year, especially away from The Emirates. On Sunday, however, the squad put in a solid shift versus a determined opponent. In doing so, the Gunners came away with the kind of grinding, 1-0 road win that eluded them almost all of last season. The entire team deserves a round of applause. On this occasion, it was the north London outfit who held their nerve and capitalized on their opponent’s mistake.

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After 58 minutes, it was starting to look like a dour, 0-0 draw was on the cards. Then Ainsley Maitland-Niles made a brilliant interception, broke forward with a determined run, and delivered a delicious final ball to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who deftly controlled it and chipped Martin Dubravka for the only goal of the game.

What is even more pleasing, however, is that Arsenal didn’t fall asleep after the goal. Instead, they stayed organized and found a way to grind out a crucial and rare road victory. While it’s far too early to draw conclusions about how the entire season will play out, the early signs of this team’s greater resilience away from home are extremely encouraging and will hopefully be replicated throughout the season.

The formula for becoming road warriors is staring Arsenal right in the face. Great road teams don’t win every game or keep clean sheets every time they travel. They simply beat the teams they’re supposed to beat with 90 minutes of solid but unspectacular play, which is precisely what the Gunners did on Sunday.

Over a full season, the math is actually pretty simple. There are 14 clubs outside of the top six. With 13 more solid but unspectacular performances like they put in against Newcastle, there is no good reason Arsenal cannot pick up at least 30 of 42 available points on the road versus teams outside of the top six.

After that, snatching a win and a draw against the five other top-six teams puts Unai Emery’s side in a terrific position to claim a top-four spot. Given their form at the Emirates last season, where they gained 45 points and were the third-best team in the division, there is no reason that with more performances like this one, Emery and his players can expect a top-four finish. And a top-four finish is all that the fans want from this season.

This, then, was the ideal start to the season. It showed a new side to the team, one that could lead them to new success under Emery.