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Arsenal was dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle, with the Magpies thoroughly outplaying the Gunners in both games.
Arsenal's quest to reach the Carabao Cup final never really got going in the semi-final against Newcastle, with the Magpies taking a 2-0 first leg lead back to St. James' Park.
That meant the Gunners had little to no margin for error and getting the first goal was paramount in mounting a comeback. Martin Odegaard had a glorious chance to score first as he the ball fell to him after Gabriel Martinelli was tackled.
Odegaard had the goal at his mercy but his shot hit the upright and no less than a minute later, Jacob Murphy scored and the rest his history.
But the Gunners still struggled to get anything going at St. James' Park with the Magpies once again out-dueling Arsenal in a convincing way.
Gunners legend Martin Keown, who covered the game for the Daily Mail, detailed how Eddie Howe's set up swarmed Arsenal into submission.
“Newcastle gave Arsenal no chance to breathe as they went man-to-man in their press," Keown wrote. "Gordon tucked in and sat on Saliba with Isak on Gabriel as Guimaraes was tasked with man-marking Thomas Partey. Sandro Tonali picked up Martin Odegaard so Schar pushed up all the way from the halfway line to the edge of the box to make sure Rice, Arsenal’s extra man in midfield, was not free to pick up the ball. If Arsenal inverted their full-backs, Jurien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly, then Newcastle winger Jacob Murphy on the right and wing-back Lewis Hall on the left tucked in centrally to deal with the danger.”
That's how Newcastle navigated the second leg to perfection against Arsenal.
In truth, it was men against boys and the Gunners who were crying out for a breather in the fixture list, now get one with the thin squad getting some much-needed rest.
Arsenal failed to bring in any reinforcements in January and of course, the injury bug bit straight away with Gabriel Martinelli suffering a hamstring injury against the Magpies.
With the Gunners now not in action until February 15 against Leicester City, it will be a time of reflection for Mikel Arteta and his squad as they look to attack the second phase of this season with the Premier League and Champions League the only two competitions that they can win.