Aleksandar Mitrovic’s first-half red card proved costly as Newcastle United suffered a 1-0 Barclays Premier League defeat by Arsenal at St James’ Park.
Booked within seconds of making his debut against Southampton, before earning another yellow card against Swansea City, the young Newcastle striker was given a red card after 16 minutes on Saturday for a rash challenge on Francis Coquelin.
Arsenal, whose claims for a penalty were denied before Mitrovic’s dismissal, struggled to make their man advantage count, but broke the deadlock early in the second half when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s shot deflected in off Fabricio Coloccini and the far post.
It was only their third top-flight goal of the campaign, and a second to have come courtesy of an opposing player, but it transpired to be the winner. Late efforts from Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla failed to yield any further goals.
Arsene Wenger made three changes and opted for Theo Walcott over Giroud up front, despite the Frenchman having scored eight goals in six matches against Newcastle, and the visitors started on the front foot.
Arsenal threatened inside the opening two minutes, but Aaron Ramsey overhit his attempted return pass to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was in for the injured Mesut Ozil, when Newcastle looked vulnerable.
Tim Krul had to be alert to snuff out the threat when Walcott looked to nudge the ball past him on the end of Hector Bellerin’s cross.
Bellerin took a tumble in the box following contact from Florian Thauvin, making his first league start, after 13 minutes, but referee Andre Marriner was unmoved by Arsenal’s claims.
The hosts looked up against it before Mitrovic’s match came to a premature end and Arsenal’s dominance increased amid a restless atmosphere inside the stadium as the home fans felt a sense of injustice, even though replays showed the Serb’s studs scrape down Coquelin’s shin.
As the interval neared, Krul kept out a long-range strike from Alexis Sanchez and then saw Walcott blast the loose ball over the crossbar, but the England forward was offside anyway.
It took seven minutes of the second half for Arsenal to forge ahead. Sanchez’s shot was parried away to Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose off-target effort found the far corner via the unfortunate Coloccini and the woodwork.
With Arsenal having taken 19 points from the last 21 available on the road, the size of the challenge facing Newcastle was evident, but Steve McClaren’s men stuck manfully to their task.
Wenger’s side enjoyed plenty of possession, though rarely opened up their hosts, who showed a high level of resolve.
Substitute Giroud and Cazorla tested Krul in the final 15 minutes, but Coloccini proved to be the unwilling match-winner as Arsenal made it eight consecutive victories over Newcastle.
Newcastle United head coach Steve McClaren: “All we could do after [the red card] was show spirit, fight and discipline and they were magnificent.
“If we keep this spirit, after four games we’ve been down to 10 men in two. We need to learn from that.
“I couldn’t fault them. We want to be a team that’s hard to beat.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger: “We were always on top. We were mature and intelligent, but I think we played a little bit cautious.
“They toughened the game up, from the start they decided to make it very physical.
“We have still [Danny] Welbeck out, [Jack] Wilshere out, no [Mesut] Ozil today; all offensive players.
“We have not fired on all cylinders offensively, our finishing has not been absolutely clinical and we have to focus on that.”
source:premierleague.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 