Arsenal gets needed win to keep title hopes alive

Arsenal continued to keep their hopes of winning the Premier League title alive after they got a much-needed impressive 2-0 win away at Newcastle on Sunday evening. Martin Odegaard scored his 15 League goal of the season with a long-range effort to open the scoring for Arsenal after a shaky start that saw Newcastle United hit the upright within the first 5 minutes and also get close to winning a penalty.

The Gunners have recovered from a four-match winless run that saw them draw 3 games and lose one against their title rivals Manchester City. After that, they managed a 3-1 win over London rivals Chelsea before Sunday’s clash with Newcastle.

With four points behind Manchester City, who beat Leeds United 2-1 on Saturday, Arsenal needed to win to get back within a point of the league leaders with four games remaining for Manchester City and three games remaining for Arsenal.

Newcastle United, on the other hand, are eyeing a UEFA Champions League spot and the top-four finish but knew that they needed not to drop points after Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Brentford on Saturday.

Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise that Newcastle United started like a house on fire as they smashed a shot past Aaron Ramsdale, only to hit the base of the upright and bounce to safety, to Arsenal’s delight.

Newcastle United thought they had won a penalty when the referee gave one for a handball by Ben White. However, a VAR check revealed that the ball hit the defender’s thigh, and the decision was overturned.

It was after that that Martin Odegaard, after orchestrating some attacking plays for Arsenal, hit a long-range drive to open the scoring after just fourteen minutes.

Both teams went toe-to-toe, but it was Arsenal who would get the second goal in the second half when Fabian Schar scored an own goal to give Arsenal the win.

Mikel Arteta’s side are now on 81 points with three games left, while Manchester City has 82 points with four games left. Newcastle remain in third but only three points away from fifth-placed Liverpool.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu