Charlie Grace

Mon 29 September 2025 12:15, UK

Arsenal earned a crucial victory in the title race, coming from behind to beat Newcastle United 2-1 on Sunday.

Arsenal’s win over Newcastle closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to two points after Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace.

Viktor Gyokeres was denied a penalty before Nick Woltemade beat Gabriel Magalhaes in the air to give Newcastle the lead.

Mikel Arteta threw his attacking subs on the pitch, and it paid off with Arsenal scoring late on through Mikel Merino and Gabriel to earn the visitors all three points.

Mikel Arteta releases the handbrake after Manchester City showing

After Arsenal drew with Man City, Gary Neville told Arteta to release the handbrake on his side if he wanted to challenge for the Premier League title.

Against Newcastle, Arteta undoubtedly did that, and Arsenal played with more attacking freedom and vigour on Sunday.

Eberechi Eze played as a number 10 and dictated the play, while Gyokeres led the line excellently and should have had a penalty awarded to him.

Arsenal created inroads throughout the match, and if it hadn’t been for a sublime showing from Nick Pope, the Gunners may have won by a bigger scoreline.

Gary Neville highlights Mikel Arteta’s change in intent

Speaking on his podcast after Arsenal’s late victory, Neville praised Arteta for his response to the questions around his intent this week.

Neville said: “That felt big. When the first goal went in, you could smell it. Some big questions have been asked of Arsenal in the last week, rightly so, but Arteta changed today.

“He’ll play it down, but his team selection was more positive and with his substitutions he’s thrown everything he could of at the game.

“If you come off a football pitch, you need to make sure you’ve used everything in your armoury, and he’s done that.

“At 1-1 i’d have praised Arsenal for doing everything they can, they made all the changes they could have, but they got the win because of their intent.

“I said last week we need to stop looking at what Arteta says and what he does. I think he’s got the best squad in the Premier League, and I think there are two teams that can win this league in Liverpool and Arsenal, it may as well be you.”

Arteta will hope his side can continue their aggressive trend when they welcome Olympiakos in the Champions League, before facing West Ham United ahead of the international break.