3 talking points as Arsenal secure 2-0 victory over Newcastle

Arsenal rose to the occasion at St. James’ Park and secured a vital 2-0 victory to keep their Premier League title dream alive. 

The Gunners’ captain, Martin Odegaard, was excellent all afternoon and rifled home a sublime effort from distance to open the scoring after the home side had initially started the better of the two teams. The Norweigan was instrumental in Arsenal maintaining control of the match after that strike and helped Mikel Arteta’s side preserve their lead at halftime.

An own goal from Fabian Schar in the 71st minute doubled Arsenal’s lead and all but confirmed the three points.

Here are three talking points from the match that saw the Gunners move back to within just one point of league leaders Manchester City, albeit with the Sky Blues boasting a game in hand.

3 talking points as Arsenal beat Newcastle United 2-0

1. Gabriel recovers from injury scare

After the Brazilian was forced into an early retirement from the 3-1 victory against Chelsea midweek, many of us were concerned that the injury would keep the defender out of this match and perhaps the rest of the season. With William Saliba already injured, that would have been a disaster.

Before the game, Arteta did very little to ease those concerns, admitting he was unsure whether Gabriel would be available for selection.

"“We’ll have to see tomorrow how he is, but he could not finish the game [against Chelsea] so that was obviously a big sign for us and we’ll have to see how he is tomorrow.”"

However, the 25-year-old started the game and played brilliantly, helping his side secure their first clean sheet since a 3-0 victory away at Fulham on March 12.

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