(Football news) Eddie Howe’s team had to wait until the very end to salvage a point in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth the previous weekend, while the Gunners lost 1-0 to Porto in the first leg of their last-16 Champions League match on Wednesday night.
Record-breaking goal scoring performances in away Premier League games did not translate into an evening of continental dominance for Arsenal on Wednesday. In their opening Champions League knockout match, which was doomed to end without a single goal being scored, a defensively sound Porto squad denied the Gunners a single opportunity on goal.
However, naivety cost Mikel Arteta’s men dear in additional time, as rather than maintaining control of the ball and seeing out a respectable goalless draw, the young guns conceded possession and conceded to Galeno, who beat David Raya all ends up with a phenomenal curler into the corner.
The unusually shot-shy Gunners – who last failed to have a shot on target in a Champions League game in 2011 – still have 90 minutes in North London to right their European wrongs, though, and Arteta’s men resume Premier League duty on a historic five-game winning sequence in the top flight.
By tearing Burnley to shreds in a 5-0 slaughter last weekend, Arsenal won their opening five league fixtures of a calendar year for the first time in their history, but Arteta’s troops remain in the bronze medal position in the table, one point behind Manchester City and five behind Liverpool, who have played an additional game.
Now on the hunt for a third straight Premier League home success following triumphs over Crystal Palace and Liverpool – notching eight goals along the way – Arsenal still boast the division’s meanest defence with just 22 goals shipped, but Newcastle and Porto have something in common when it comes to keeping the Gunners out.
Having kept their supporters enthralled throughout February so far, Newcastle had previously defeated Nottingham Forest in a thrilling 3-2 game and shared the spoils in an eight-goal Luton Town extravaganza before hosting Bournemouth at St James’ Park for another exciting match last Saturday.
Two goals from Dominic Solanke and Antoine Semenyo gave the Cherries the lead twice in the second half. However, Newcastle responded twice, through a penalty kick from Anthony Gordon and an unlikely source—Matt Ritchie—who extended the Magpies’ winning run in injury time.
