"St James' Park has done strange things to Arsenal. It had become Mikel Arteta's bogey ground, defeats the last three visits, his team unable to score. Each time, bright beginnings had given way to becoming bogged down by refereeing controversy, Arsenal pulled into the rolling maul football that better suits Newcastle's muscle. Sunday's attacking team selection and Arteta throwing the kitchen sink in chasing a win when a point had already been rescued hinted at a change in mentality."
"Arteta's team eventually wrested control of the physical battle to push for three. If the dimensions that Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres have added failed to pay off, the Premier League's deepest squad found the aerial power within itself, via Arteta's attacking substitutions. An early overturned penalty and missed chances felt all too familiar. Arsenal's response to those reverses, overturning their St James' mental block, suggested a fresh determination that will serve them well in the title hunt."
"Josh King's previous trip to Birmingham was a 7-1 defeat at St Andrew's in the EFL trophy with Fulham's under-21s approaching 12 months ago While he again tasted defeat, this time at Villa Park, his performance was the overriding promising takeaway for Marco Silva's side. Almost all of Fulham's positive play went through the 18-year-old midfielder, again preferred to Emile Smith Rowe, a 27m signing last year, or the experience of Tom Cairney and Harrison Reed."
St James' Park had become Mikel Arteta's bogey ground after three successive defeats there with Arsenal failing to score. Bright starts repeatedly gave way to refereeing controversy and Newcastle's physical, rolling-maul football. Arteta made attacking changes and ultimately wrested control of the physical battle, with Arsenal finding aerial power through substitutions and Gabriel scoring a late winner to secure victory. An early overturned penalty and missed chances preceded a response that suggested renewed determination for the title hunt. For Fulham, an 18-year-old midfielder named King produced the most promising performance against Aston Villa despite the defeat.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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