Merino and Gabriel heroics, three stars impress - Arsenal player ratings Newcastle

Arsenal ended their losing streak at St James’ Park after a hard-fought point that they will arguably be disappointed with after a good performance on Tyneside.

Arsenal thought they had won a penalty when Nick Pope appeared to have brought down Viktor Gyokeres but VAR deemed the goalkeeper to have got a slight touch on the ball. Leandro Trossard then smacked the post with a shot from close-range.

The Gunners were punished for their missed chances after Nick Woltemade headed in from a short corner routine. It came late but Arsenal found their equaliser through Mikel Merino, rising highest to meet a header which sneaked in the back post.

Here is how football.london rated the performances of the Arsenal players:

David Raya – Could do little about the Woltemade goal, beaten by a great headed effort. 6

Jurrien Timber – Excellent cross to find Eze while also defending well against Gordon early on. Had a great headed chance saved by Pope early in the second half but overall had a brilliant game. 8

Cristhian Mosquera – Made a couple of mistakes, with misplaced passes and touches, a key one leading to the corner, which Woltemade scored from. Left the field at half-time with probably his least impressive performance so far. 5

Gabriel Magalhaes – Was lucky not to be picked up by VAR for raising his arms unnecessarily to Woltemade in the aftermath of his goal. Was arguably lucky to escape giving away a penalty late on as well.

However all that is forgiven as late on the Brazilian found the header from a corner to grab victory. 7

Riccardo Calafiori – Produced some great passes and combinations, but did claim a yellow card after taking down Livramento in transition. 6

Martin Zubimendi – Ran the midfield beautifully at times and produced the pass for Timber’s chance, which evaded everyone. 7

Declan Rice – Found the pass to Trossard for the shot that hit the post. Picking up the ball from deep, it was often on Rice to be the man in transition.

Had to be on it with his defensive duties to prevent Jacob Murphy from scoring, chasing back to stop a one-on-one moment and totally dominated all game, what a performance. 8

Eberechi Eze – Chance from the edge of the box, volleyed low to the bottom right, saved by Pope and another more straight at the England keeper. While in the second half, Trossard’s cross found the former Palace man again, but this time he volleyed over. 8

Bukayo Saka – Got a couple of shots in before the thirty-minute mark, which were matched by Pope. Struggled to get into the game like he would want and was eventually replaced in the second half. 6

Viktor Gyokeres – A Couple of early chances, which were both saved comfortably and blocked well. Had the chance to strike the ball when bearing down on goal but tried to check back instead and lost the ball.

Had the chance to equalise around the 81st minute and fluffed his shot over the bar. 6

Leandro Trossard – Struck the post in a must-score situation in the first half from an arguably tight angle; at the very least, it had to test Pope. But overall had a decent game and produced some good passes in the final third. 6

Substitutes:

William Saliba – Since coming on the Frenchman added plenty more solidity at the back and calmness too.

Mikel Merino – Rose highest to meet the cross from Rice and find the equaliser. 7

Gabriel Martinelli – Didn’t have too much influence after coming on. n/a

Myles Lewis-Skelly - Didn’t have too much influence after coming on. n/a

Martin Odegaard – Produced a brilliant late pass to Myles Lewis-Skelly who should have done better. Was not on the pitch long but had a huge impact with the corner for the goal late on too. 7

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