Match ends, Newcastle United 0, Arsenal 1.
NewcastleNewcastle United0ArsenalArsenal1
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang punished slack Newcastle defending to give Arsenal victory at a rain-drenched St James' Park.
Starting with many of their £125m-worth of signings on the bench and without midfielders Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac, Gunners boss Unai Emery watched his side struggle to cut through their opponents in the first half.
That all changed just before the hour mark when Aubameyang was left unmarked on the edge of the area, collected Ainsley Maitland-Niles' cross from the right and fired past Martin Dubravka.
Emery gave £72m club-record signing Nicolas Pepe and midfielder Dani Ceballos debuts from the bench, but they failed to make much of an impression.
As for Steve Bruce, his Newcastle managerial debut was about what could have been.
The Magpies' record signing Joelinton went close with a shot blocked by Bernd Leno, before Jonjo Shelvey saw his drive crash off the woodwork.
The home side were flat for much of the second half, although another new recruit, the exciting wing prospect Allan Saint-Maximin, tested German Leno with a near-post drive.
Aubameyang makes the difference
Unai Emery went through a range of emotions in his dugout area during the first period, ranging from anguish to anger.
His somewhat makeshift Arsenal starting XI, without the experienced Ozil and Kolasinac, struggled with both the conditions and the five-man Newcastle midfield.
They only opened up the Magpies' defence twice in that opening period, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan firing wildly over before Aubameyang struck a firm drive at Dubravka.
Both sides had pacy frontmen, but only one was proven at this level. And when Aubameyang, who scored 22 Premier League goals last season, was given a second chance at goal he took it brilliantly.
The Gabon international was inexplicably given a free run into the area as Jamaal Lascelles went AWOL, and slotted in Maitland-Niles' delivery from the right.
Ivorian winger Pepe and Ceballos were given a run-out but made little impact, although had Maitland-Niles' cross reached the record signing in the area late on, then we might have seen a goal on his debut.
No doubt we will see why Arsenal paid £72m to Lille for him in the coming weeks.
Positives in defeat for Newcastle
As a former centre-half himself, Bruce would have been disappointed to have seen skipper Lascelles drawn towards the ball which left Aubameyang free to score the decider.
Up until then his backline coped admirably with the pace of the Gunners - producing the type of disciplined display seen on countless occasions under the stewardship of predecessor Rafael Benitez.
At the other end Brazilian Joelinton had a lively debut, and roused the home crowd when he slalomed past two challenges to hammer in a low shot saved by Leno.
And Shelvey, who will be hoping to once again become a regular fixture in the Newcastle midfield, showed his prowess from distance with a vicious drive which shook the rain off the woodwork.
Joelinton and Miguel Almiron both worked tirelessly, but did not quite click up front as they partnered each other for the first time in a competitive fixture.
But it is worth noting that Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon took until the second half of last season to form a potent union, which eventually reaped 23 goals.
There was enough shown on the pitch on Sunday to suggest that there are better days to come for Joelinton and Almiron.
Man of the match - Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Young Gunners - the stats
- Arsenal named two English teenagers (Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson) in their starting XI for a Premier League game for the first time since February 1998 (Paolo Vernazza and Matthew Upson v Crystal Palace), before either Willock or Nelson were born.
- The Gunners won and kept a clean sheet in their opening game of a Premier League season for the first time since 2008-09.
- Newcastle haven't won their opening game in any of their last six Premier League campaigns.
- Newcastle manager Bruce suffered defeat in his first game at a new club for the first time since December 2001, when he began his Birmingham City reign with a 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the second tier.
- Arsenal have only lost one of their 25 Premier League games under Emery when opening the scoring.
- Since making his Premier League debut for Arsenal in February 2018, only Mohamed Salah (36) has scored more goals in the competition than Aubameyang (33).
- Pepe made his Premier League debut for Arsenal, becoming the 200th player to feature for the Gunners in the competition.
What's next?
Newcastle are at newly-promoted Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST) while Arsenal take on Burnley at the Emirates on the same day in the early kick-off (12:30 BST).
Line-ups
Newcastle
Formation 3-5-2
- 1Dubravka
- 5Schär
- 6Lascelles
- 3Dummett
- 19Manquillo
- 14Hayden
- 8ShelveySubstituted forWillemsat 54'minutes
- 36S LongstaffSubstituted forSaint-Maximinat 67'minutes
- 11Ritchie
- 24AlmirónBooked at 18mins
- 9Joelinton
Substitutes
- 2Clark
- 10Saint-Maximin
- 13Muto
- 15Willems
- 17Krafth
- 18Fernandez
- 26Darlow
Arsenal
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Leno
- 15Maitland-Niles
- 21Chambers
- 5Papastathopoulos
- 18Monreal
- 29Guendouzi
- 34XhakaBooked at 81mins
- 7MkhitaryanBooked at 37minsSubstituted forMartinelliat 84'minutes
- 28WillockSubstituted forCeballosat 64'minutes
- 24NelsonBooked at 25minsSubstituted forPépéat 71'minutes
- 14Aubameyang
Substitutes
- 8Ceballos
- 9Lacazette
- 11Torreira
- 19Pépé
- 23David Luiz
- 26E MartÃnez
- 35Martinelli
- Referee:
- Martin Atkinson
- Attendance:
- 47,635
Match Stats
Home TeamNewcastleAway TeamArsenal
- Possession
- Home38%
- Away62%
- Shots
- Home9
- Away8
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away2
- Corners
- Home5
- Away3
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away7
Live Text
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Full Time
Second Half ends, Newcastle United 0, Arsenal 1.
Post update
Offside, Arsenal. Calum Chambers tries a through ball, but Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is caught offside.
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Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) wins a free kick on the left wing.
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Foul by Javier Manquillo (Newcastle United).
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Offside, Newcastle United. Paul Dummett tries a through ball, but Miguel Almirón is caught offside.
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Attempt missed. Joelinton (Newcastle United) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Miguel Almirón.
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Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United).
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Foul by Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal).
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Matt Ritchie (Newcastle United) wins a free kick on the right wing.
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Attempt missed. Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Matt Ritchie.
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal. Gabriel Martinelli replaces Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Javier Manquillo (Newcastle United).
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Attempt saved. Allan Saint-Maximin (Newcastle United) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Jetro Willems.
Booking
Granit Xhaka (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Granit Xhaka (Arsenal).
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Miguel Almirón (Newcastle United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Arsenal. Nicolas Pépé replaces Reiss Nelson.
Comments
Join the conversation
Hardly the one sided affair so many Gunners were predicting against a team heavily tipped for relegation, but those all important 3 points in the bag.
I am fond of the Toon’s, I wish them well this season & hope they play to their full potential instead of blaming their owner for absolutely everything.
I can’t see them going down either.
A fair result on the whole. Not the best Arsenal performance we'll ever see, but last season we struggled for away wins and with a few signings and players missing and/or short of match fitness. We'll take it.
As for Newcastle I hope they stay up. Great club with the worst owner.
Willock, Nelson and Maitland-Niles did ok, good to see academy lads getting a chance.
For Arsenal it already looks like a battle for fourth place.
"neither team deserved to win"
But one did, and it was worth three points.
Just shows how little you know.
The majority of Arsenal fans know that the league title is beyond us, certainly for the next 2-3 years at least. The target this season is to win a cup and secure Champions League football again.
The reality is that Man City and Liverpool are far stronger, but we are still closer to Spurs than their fans would be prepared to admit.