Newcastle United’s miserable run of form and performances continued in what was another difficult evening for the Magpies as they fell to a 3-0 defeat away at Arsenal on Monday night.
Steve Bruce came into the game well aware of the intense pressure he is under to turn not just results but performances around. That was telling in his candid comments to the media ahead of the game in which he said he would do things his way now and play with the ‘gloves off.’ A host of changes were made to the starting line-up and a more adventurous, at least on paper, 4-4-2 system deployed.
However, once again Newcastle found themselves surrendering possession to Arsenal throughout the 90 minutes and at no stage did they ever really mount any prolonged periods of pressure on their goal. The first half offered a mild improvement to the dismal showing at Sheffield United and there was more of an effort to close down off the ball, but that went out the window in the second half.
Arsenal’s opening goal five minutes after half-time sort of summed things up for the Magpies, with the Gunners capitalising on a poor Newcastle corner and catching them out on the counterattack. From that point on, it was plain sailing for the hosts, who had been struggling for both goals and wins at home so far this campaign. You would not have known by the lack of resistance Bruce’s side showed at times.
This latest defeat means that Newcastle are now winless in their last nine matches in all competitions, and to make matters worse it is now just one goal scored in their last seven games (Transfermarkt). Those are dismal facts which make for grim reading and also illustrate how much trouble they are in at the moment.
If this was doing things his way, then it does not suggest that Bruce can arrest the slide any time soon. The only thing they can build on is the slight improvements showed in the first half, and at least with a 4-4-2 formation there is more potential for them to be more of an attacking threat in future matches. That is slim consolation at this stage, however.
Here is how we rated Newcastle’s players on what was another tough evening for the Magpies at Arsenal…
