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Half-time postbag. “I was just about to email you that Arsenal were attacking with fluidity reminiscent of Wengerball, and then they go one-nil down to a set piece. Ah well, maybe there’s some value to Arteta’s modern Grahamball” – Kári Tulinius
“The CBS Sports commentator followed the half-time whistle by remarking that ‘So far, Arsenal don’t have the answers’, which is fitting since the name of Newcastle’s in-form Swedish striker is an anagram of ‘I ask’” – Peter Oh
“Mick Harford was indeed a very hard man, but even he struggled to be the hardest man in the Birmingham City side of the early 80s. He faced stiff competition from a team of shrinking violets which included Tony Coton, Noel Blake, Robert Hopkins, Pat Van Den Hauwe and Mark Dennis. You wouldn’t want to meet them on a football pitch or on a night out” – Ian Burch
HALF TIME: Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle United
Arsenal have hit the post, and caused several stramashes in the Newcastle box. But the Toon have played adventurously as well, and it’s the visitors who take a lead into the dressing room at the break. An entertaining game.
45 min +1: The first of two additional minutes. Trossard goes down in the vicinity of Gordon and wants a free kick, but there’s little contact and he’s not getting it.
45 min: Odegaard sends a long diagonal from the right to the far stick. Rice cushions down for Gabriel, whose shot from six yards is well parried by Dubravka. So close! Again!
44 min: The free kick’s just to the left of centre, just outside the D. Odegaard slams an uncharacteristically witless effort straight into the wall.
43 min: A loose ball rolled in from the Arsenal left. Partey snaffles it and advances towards the edge of the Newcastle D. He prepares to shoot only to be nudged from behind by Joelinton. Partey doesn’t go down immediately, but after considering taking a shot, falls belatedly instead, cashing in his free-kick chip. Joelinton goes into the book.
41 min: The Newcastle fans are making a lot of noise right now. A first domestic trophy since 1955 one baby step closer.
39 min: That’ll hit Arsenal hard. They had spent the previous few minutes getting closer and closer to scoring the opening goal themselves, but now look!
GOAL! Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle United (Isak 37)
It’s that man again! Dubravka launches a long free kick towards the Arsenal box from inside his own half. At the edge of the box, Burn flicks the header down the inside-right channel for Murphy, who rolls the ball first-time to Isak on his left. Isak roofs from 12 yards. Easy as that!
35 min: Arsenal take their turn to enjoy some sterile possession. Newcastle will be content enough with that: they did well to survive that earlier Arsenal spurt without conceding and must appreciate the breather.
33 min: Newcastle need to stem the flow, and try to launch a counter through Isak and Gordon down the left. Isak tries to ping his team-mate clear, but Gordon knows he’s offside and the move breaks down.
31 min: Rice sends the corner into the six-yard box. Dubravka flaps and misses. Just about everyone is in the six-yard box, and a ludicrous game of pinball breaks out. Amid the melee, Timber attempts a Denis Law-style back-heel, then Havertz tries to force home but Botman blocks. Newcastle eventually hack clear. Complete nonsense, but great fun.
30 min: Arsenal have suddenly moved through the gears, and now Odegaard shoots from the edge of the Newcastle box. His effort is blocked and deflected out for a corner. Rice to send this one in from the left.
29 min: Rice, Partey and Trossard shuttle the ball up the inside-right channel from deep, a gorgeous one-touch passing move. Trossard then instantly flippers Martinelli clear from the halfway line! Martinelli races towards the box, and crashes a shot past Dubravka … but off the right-hand upright. Such a shame, that would have been a glorious goal.
28 min: Gabriel buys a ticket for the raffle, the best part of 30 yards out. He drags his shot miles wide right of the target. Full marks for ambition, less so for execution.
27 min: … so having published that, the game suddenly gets scrappy.
25 min: Nothing comes from the resulting corner. “As someone who recognises the importance of a good defence, I’ve had a lot of appreciation for Arteta’s work at Arsenal, particularly after the bad old days of Luiz, Mustafi, et al,” begins Russell Eberts. “But there have been times where it feels like the Gunners are locked in a grinding war of attrition with far too few fluid passages of play. Only 20 minutes in, this match could go either way, but it has been nice to watch a more open, end-to-end match so far. Certainly better for the neutral as well, I’m sure.”
24 min: Isak sprays a diagonal pass towards Murphy on the right. Murphy advances and wins a corner, though Isak is livid, having attempted to keep up with the attack only to be cynically dragged back by Trossard. The referee either didn’t spot it or waved play on, who knows. The foul was just outside the area, so VAR can’t take action over what would have been a garden-variety free kick. But that was as brazen as it gets from Trossard.
22 min: Nope. Dubravka punches the corner powerfully clear. Lewis-Skelly comes back at Newcastle down the inside-right channel, but overhits his pass upfield for Timber, and the ball sails out for a goal kick.
21 min: Odegaard and Trossard combine to win Arsenal’s first corner down the right. Odegaard strolls over to take it. Will the hosts have better luck from this side?
20 min: Odegaard rolls a hospital pass out towards Martinelli on the left. Livramento slides in to hook the loose ball away, and does so, but nanoseconds later clatters into Martinelli. Ooyah, oof. Both players felt that. A brief pause as they roll about clutching their shins, but happily it’s just the sting of impact, and both men get back up again quickly enough.
19 min: Raya plays another risky pass out from the back. It’s successful this time, though he’s very nearly closed down by Willock. Newcastle pressing him hard.
17 min: It’s end to end. Tonali pings a long crossfield pass towards Murphy on the left. Murphy’s low cross is intercepted. Arsenal go up the other end, Trossard crossing to nobody in particular from the right flank. Goal kick. Both teams very much front foot forward.
15 min: Lewis-Skelly nearly releases Martinelli into the box with a forensic pass down the inside left, but Tonali reads the danger to intercept. Newcastle flood up the other end, Isak burning Saliba down the right. He reaches the byline but his cutback rolls behind the in-rushing Gordon. The ball ends up at the feet of Tonali, who blazes wildly into the night air. This match surely won’t end goalless.
13 min: Martinelli’s direct run down the left wins Arsenal their second corner of the game. And it’s not clear how they don’t score from it. Rice curls it towards the far stick. Timber rises, three or four feet out, but somehow slaps his header straight up and over the bar. It was surely easier to find the net. That’s a big chance.
11 min: Raya’s awful pass out from the back is intercepted by Livramento. Arsenal are very fortunate that Livramento, Murphy and Tonali over-elaborate as they attempt to enter the box down the inside-right channel, and the ball pings out for a goal kick.
10 min: Hall half-clears the free kick, but then there’s some pinball in the box, as Trossard, Martinelli and Saliba all take turns to have a whack at goal. Anything could happen, but the ball eventually drops kindly for Dubravka, who smothers.
9 min: Trossard wins a duel with Gordon this time, drawing a foul as he makes good down the right touchline. Odegaard to swing this into a packed Newcastle box.
8 min: Livramento advances down the right and crosses long for Gordon. Just a wee bit too high for Gordon to get a proper header on target, or cushion it down for a team-mate. Raya claims it.
7 min: Gordon beats Trossard with ease down the left but his low cross into a crowded box fails to beat the first man. A nice, open feel to this game now, with both sides showing ambition in attack.
6 min: Rice curls it in from the left towards the near post. Timber gets too much on his attempted flick-header, and the ball sails harmlessly out for a goal kick.
5 min: Some space for Martinelli down the left. His cross is half cleared by Burn. Arsenal come again, through Timber down the right this time. Timber crosses long, forcing Livramento to head behind for one of those Arsenal Corners™. They’ve scored from 16 of them already this season. So here goes.
3 min: Livramento wedges a long pass down the inside-right channel for Isak, who reaches the box before cutting back for Joelinton. The ball bobbles, and Joelinton shins his first-time swing miles over the bar. The move an early positive sign for the Toon, though.
2 min: A fairly scrappy, nondescript start. Onwards and upwards, we’ve got 178 minutes plus stoppages still to go.
Newcastle get the ball rolling. The Emirates in fine voice. Roar!
The teams are out! Arsenal in red and white, Newcastle black and white, just as little John Lennon had it. A banging atmosphere at the Emirates, as befits the first leg of a major semi-final. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes. In the meantime, here’s Justin Kavanagh: “Mark Chapman gets the ball rolling by calling Arteta an arsehole on air; what a shame that David Coote isn’t one of tonight’s miked-up refs to tell us what he really thinks about Arteta and Howe’s sideline criticisms. Now that really would add value.”
Pre-match postbag. “The Arsenal team looking back up to decent strength – but never mind that; Arsenal fans just want to enjoy the feeling of the cockles of their heart being warmed by the idea of the much-loved Tomas Rosicky coming back to the club. We had a (mostly) beautiful 10 years’ worth of him, swooning at the quality of his play, commiserating with him over his many injuries, and generally thinking him a good egg. I dunno whether you actually want a good egg as sporting director, and not some steely-eyed, unsentimental flint-heart, but if there’s a choice, I know which I’d go for” – Charles Antaki
“Unfortunately I’ve done myself a solid and smashed my thumbnail trying to close a window. At one point it looked like my MBM contribution would be in serious jeopardy. I managed to recover by consuming some ‘inspiring’ interviews with English football’s hard men of yesteryear: Mick Harford, Martin Keown, Jean Alain Boumsong, Pascal Cygan. Keown in particular seemed to spend a considerable time punching people in the formative years of his career. But he was well spoken and it showed that I could rise above the pain. My question is this: would you prefer to watch Havertz v Botman tonight, or Harford v Keown? I know my answer” – Chris Paraskevas
“God forbid I sound cynical, but afaict the best outcome of this is that eg at least some hilariously self-satisfied incompetence of the form ‘good process boys’ will get the immediate reaction it deserves from the crowd. Which, uh, maybe I’m on board actually” – James Humphries
Oh Chappers, how could you! Over an hour before the watershed as well.
Mikel Arteta speaks to Sky. “It is great to have Kai Havertz back … big occasion, big game … looking forward to it … Newcastle have threats from various ways … like every team in the Premier League, very difficult … it was a very competitive match [at St James’ Park] and we didn’t deserve to lose it … another opportunity today.”
Eddie Howe, who is taking charge of Newcastle for the 150th time tonight, speaks to Sky Sports. “Joe Willock’s running capacity is his biggest strength … a brilliant athlete who will help us in and out of possession … he’s good technically as well … he’ll add a different dimension to our midfield … we can’t play the same [without Bruno Guimaraes] … a tactical tweak … only Bruno can do what Bruno can do … we have to find a different way … it’s whether the team can adjust but I think we can.”
VAR hasn’t been used in any of the previous rounds, but it’s back for the semi-finals and final, baby! Did you miss it? No, us neither. There’s a fancy new feature being rolled out tonight, too: should VAR have to intervene at any point, the on-field referee will announce and explain the decision to the crowd, over the mic, NFL-style. “We feel it will add some value,” insists PGMOL chief Howard Webb, which may or may not indicate how this caper is going to pan out, depending on your point of view / level of cynicism / recall of previous decisions, explanations, big ideas, etc.
Arsenal make five changes to their starting XI after the 1-1 draw at Brighton. Martin Ødegaard, Jurriën Timber, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz all return; Riccardo Calafiori, Jorginho, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Jesus drop to the bench, while Ethan Nwaneri is injured.
Newcastle also name a strong team, making just one change to the side that started the 2-1 win at Spurs, an enforced one at that. Joe Willock replaces the suspended captain Bruno Guimarães.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Odegaard, Partey, Rice, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard.
Subs: Porter, Zinchenko, Tierney, Calafiori, Kiwior, Jorginho, Merino, Jesus, Sterling.
Newcastle United: Dubravka, Livramento, Botman, Burn, Hall, Willock, Tonali, Joelinton, Jacob Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Vlachodimos, Trippier, Barnes, Targett, Osula, Almiron, Kelly, Longstaff, Miley.
Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).
Preamble
It’s the latest staging of the Walls and Bridges derby! Whatever gets you through the night, s’alright.
A lot has happened between Newcastle and Arsenal since young Winston O’Boogie illustrated their meeting in the 1952 FA Cup final. George Eastham, Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka, Cheik Tioté, all that. So let’s just fast forward to last November …
… when yes, we did use this exact same riff in the preamble. But the result of that game turned out to be exactly the same as the previous season’s fixture, so there’s an element of life imitating art here. However, while those two matches paint Newcastle in a favourable light, there’s also the small matter of the resounding 4-1 win for Arsenal at the Emirates last February to consider, so both sides have something positive to cling onto going into this two-legged semi-final. It’s set up deliciously then, and both teams are in canny fettle to boot: the Gunners are 13 matches unbeaten in all competitions, while the Toon are currently riding a six-win wave. Should be a cracker! Here’s hoping. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT. It’s on!
