Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal (Woltemade 34′ | Merino 84′, Gabriel 90+6′)
ST JAMES’ PARK — What a massive moment this might be for Mikel Arteta and an Arsenal team who showcased their title credentials with a win carved out of granite at St James’ Park.
For so long this stadium has been the final boss Arteta couldn’t topple. Blown away in the Carabao Cup earlier this year, it was also the scene of an infamous, rain-sodden rant at referees a couple of years ago after Newcastle out-fought and out-thought his side.
So it feels freighted with significance that Arteta’s team were able to hurdle adversity and what the Spaniard felt was a VAR-infused injustice to haul themselves back into Liverpool’s rearview mirror.
Inevitably it was a set piece that did it, Gabriel Magalhaes rising above Nick Pope and a sea of black and white shirts to spark scenes of jubilation on the Arsenal bench.
"THE GUNNERS HAVE GONE AND DONE IT!"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 28, 2025
Gabriel with a 96th-minute goal to complete the Arsenal comebackpic.twitter.com/iD7ZQcl1xI
They had been 1-0 behind with five minutes to go but Newcastle’s lead never looked assured. Arsenal kept knocking on the door and eventually it flung open.
“An unbelievable feeling,” Arteta said afterwards. “That is what football is all about when you get what you deserve right at the end.”
And, for all the bedlam that preceded it, you couldn’t really argue with the denouement. Newcastle had snatched the lead through Nick Woltemade, a wonderful angled header from Sandro Tonali’s cross, but they didn’t do enough. Their season remains stubbornly resistant to lift-off.
Arsenal’s got theirs, though. Arteta summoned Mikel Merino from the bench and against his former club he headed the Gunners level with six minutes remaining. The injury-time winner puts wind in their sails.
For Newcastle it was a shuddering conclusion but one that was perhaps in the post. They drained the tank here in an attempt to reprise their winning run against Arsenal but in all honesty weren’t that great for long spells and remain a long way from clicking.
Defensively they look sound enough – Malick Thiaw looks a find – but Pope’s afternoon sums up their campaign so far. He was brilliant for so much of it but at fault for Arsenal’s winner and the decision to send a quick kick up field in the dying stages which pinged back into Newcastle’s penalty area and imposed pressure the Magpies couldn’t resist.
They will point to a second-half penalty shout when Gabriel’s outstretched arm parried Anthony Elanga’s shot but that doesn’t obscure some brutal home truths. They aren’t carrying anywhere near enough threat yet.
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To make matters worse, Tino Livramento was stretchered off with his head in his hands after injuring his left knee. It looked very bad for a player who has already fought back from anterior cruciate ligament injuries in the past.
What a game it was though, a snapshot of the Premier League in 2025: two big, physical teams trading blows like prizefighters. There were plenty of technicians on the pitch but even the likes of Tonali and Eberechi Eze can handle themselves in games like this, when the dial is cranked up to 11 and it is exhausting just watching them go at it.
There has always been needle between these two teams and it continued here, extending to handbags after the game when Joelinton and Arsenal’s set-piece coach Nicolas Jover got involved in a shoving match. But this was Arteta’s day.
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