The title boost Arsenal unlocked at Newcastle which Liverpool prayed would evade Arteta again

Champions go on and win it from here! The words of Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville after Mikel Merino brought Arsenal level late on at St James’ Park.

Well, that is exactly what Arsenal did courtesy of Gabriel Magalhaes, whose 96th-minute header won Mikel Arteta an invaluable three points on Tyneside. Having watched their rivals Liverpool time after time snatch victory after unconvincing performances, it would have been almost wrong for the Gunners not to take all three points considering their overall performance.

Beyond the Nick Woltemade goal and Jacob Murphy’s late counterattack, the home side were limited to very little by the typical dominance of this Arsenal side. 20 shots with six on target from the visitors paints a picture of the game they had, and these attempts on goal are not concentrated into a period of chasing the game.

Arsenal were the better side from start to finish. As I was packing up my stuff, ready to head to the press conference, I could hear a commentator sitting behind me in the press box talking about how Arsenal had been supposedly bullied throughout the game.

It is fair to say I could not have shaken my head in dissatisfaction at the notion in a more noticeable way. The injustice after several questionable decisions, which football.london will cover in our in-depth referee review.

But in short, Viktor Gyokeres’ penalty incident was unquestionably wrongly overturned. Burned from last season’s trip to Brighton, where William Saliba was punished despite getting a meaningful touch on the ball before colliding with Joao Pedro, it was baffling to see Jarred Gillett both advised to go to the screen and then to decide to overturn the decision.

Thankfully, this time, it did not have a meaningful impact on the result, but it certainly did on the game. The result must not overshadow what is, once again, an utterly awful decision from the Premier League officials, who continue to exercise consistency in one aspect: inconsistency.

Merino scoring the equaliser has its own irony, too. Critics have wrongly begun to point fingers at the Spaniard solely for his selection, which has sadly bled into scrutiny of the player himself.

Merino has been an asset to Arsenal since he arrived, scoring in two games against Liverpool, Real Madrid, late winners at Leicester last season, and now in a very tricky clash at St James’ Park.

The criticism of the player needs to stop. The conversation around certain selections in specific games is fair, but Merino here showed once again why he is of such value to the club.

The late winner, another set piece, of course, shows just why Arsenal put such emphasis on this. But let it be known that the side also created plenty from open play.

Gyokeres certainly had two good chances he should have done better from. The first was in the first half, when instead of striking the ball when bearing down on goal, he decided to check back and got tackled.

The second before the Merino equaliser, he scuffed his shot over the bar. He’s still adjusting, but these are big moments that, as the season goes on, he needs to find a way of taking more efficiently; that said, he should have been awarded a penalty, which he arguably would have taken.

The result pushes Arsenal to within two points of Liverpool. Too many times last season when their title rivals dropped points, the Gunners failed to take advantage of it.

This time, despite it being left very late, they did just that - a title boost which Arne Slot would have been praying Arsenal would once again fail to unlock. It sees the Gunners end their extremely tough first six opening matches of the league season, completed with four wins, one draw and one defeat.

It will be frustrating that the defeat came against Liverpool, but to concede just once from open play, Woltemade’s arguably still coming from a set piece despite the short corner routine, is quite the record. Three goals conceded in total in six, 12 scored, and three of the toughest trips in recent history for Arteta’s side ticked off.

They now enter the month of October, during which they will not leave London for six matches in three competitions. In the league, they host West Ham before travelling to Fulham and facing Crystal Palace. In that same period, Liverpool travel to Chelsea, host Manchester United, and face a trip to Brentford.

October could be a month where the momentum in the title race swings once again. The clash with Newcastle also happened to be the first game Arteta has not had to watch a player leave the field with an injury, either.

If this change of fortune with injury can improve, Martin Odegaard and Piero Hincapie get back to full fitness, then there is such a wealth of resources available that the Gunners have to get through these multiple competitions successfully. The phrase ‘be excited’ has a broader and deeper meaning to Arsenal supporters, but there are genuine reasons for a sense of optimism after such a gauntlet of games to begin the new campaign.