Newcastle vs Arsenal player ratings: Arteta hard-hit six stars due to major concerns | Football | Sport

Arsenal suffered another major blow in their Premier League title race as Alexander Isak’s thunderous header condemned Mikel Arteta’s side to a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle. The Gunners could go eight points off the league leaders if Manchester City beat Bournemouth today.

It was a hugely disappointing performance from Arsenal, who struggled to make any headway following Isak’s 12th-minute goal. Trossard saw a modest effort deflected off the crossbar while substitute Ethan Nwaneri fired a long-range effort towards the Gallowgate Stand at St James’ Park. Declan Rice then headed home Arsenal’s best chance in stoppage time.

Six Arsenal players scored below 5/10 Express Sport player ratings. Find out how we scored against Arteta’s players below…

David Raya – 5

The Arsenal goalkeeper had no choice but to pull the ball out of the goal. One strong parry in the second half denied Isak a shot from range.

Thomas Partey – 5

Partey looked uncomfortable at right-back and was perhaps fortunate to have little one-on-one action as Joelinton moved upfield on the left. The Ghanaian moved into midfield in the second half as Arsenal pressed for a goal.

William Saliba – 5

Newcastle star Isak got the better of Arsenal’s two centre-backs. Saliba remained almost unharmed.

Gabriel – 4

Isak lost Arsenal centre-back Gabriel too easily to unleash a powerful header. It was an uncharacteristically disappointing display from a man who has admittedly been injured recently.

Jurrien Timber – 4

Timber faced the superior Gordon, who was given too much space for Isak to attack. The Dutchman was booked minutes after switching to right-back and was sent off shortly after.

Declan Rice – 5

Two extremely poor free kicks meant Arsenal were unable to make the most of their set-piece prowess. Rice was not up to his usual standards as a deep linebacker. But the 25-year-old has been flagged as the man most likely to lead the Gunners’ comeback at the end of the season.

Mikel Merino – 3

The problem for Arsenal is that Rice and Merino are very, very similar. They instinctively do similar things and throw Arteta off balance when they start next to each other in midfield. Newcastle found huge gaps in midfield at times.

Unsurprisingly, the Spaniard was carried away for the hour, making way for Ethan Nwaneri, who could hear his fans chanting the teenager’s name for much of the match.

Leandro Trossard – 3

Trossard had to continue performing during a difficult period of form. The Belgian made the wrong pass during a counter-attack in the first half, which summed up his performance. However, he was unlucky when he cleared the ball off the line from a corner.

Gabriel Martinelli – 3

Tino Livramento played superbly against Martinelli, completely nullifying the Brazilian’s threat. He was taken away for an hour because he had done very little.

Kai Havertz – 4

Newcastle did a very good job of preventing Havertz from being supported. Martinelli and Saka were hemmed in on the flank and Trossard was ineffective. The Magpies controlled the space around Havertz in what was a great performance under Eddie Howe.

Bukayo Saka – 5

Saka tried and tried but Newcastle nailed him. The stand-in captain hobbled around late with another potential concern over Arteta’s fitness.

Substitutes

Alexander Zinchenko (for Martinelli) – 5

The Ukrainian has given Arsenal a little more balance.

Ethan Nwaneri (by Merino) – 5

Nwaneri was confident in his approach play and unleashed a bold shot that sailed high and wide. The 17-year-old has done more to influence the game than his much older colleagues.

Ben White (for timber) Gabriel Jesus (for Trossard), Jorginho (for Partey) – N.A.

The three late substitutes had little opportunity to make an impact.