London: Goals from Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal a 2-0 win Monday over Newcastle United and lifted them to third place in the Premier League above rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
Aaron Ramsey found his way through a packed defence on the half hour to score with a low shot before Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette put the game to bed in the 83rd minute with a chip over the keeper. The victory helped Arsenal reach 63 points with with seven games left, two above Spurs and Manchester United and with Chelsea a further point behind.
Five of Arsenal’s remaining seven fixtures are away, where they have picked up fewer than half of their points this season, a fact Emery was quick to pick up on after the match. “Our challenge is away – to be as consistent as we are at home,” the Spaniard told reporters.
Emery’s players, nevertheless, seem confident that they can return to Europe’s elite club competition, the Champions League for the first time in three seasons, nert year.
“I can feel the difference in the atmosphere from last season. Now we can maybe go to the Champions League,” Lacazette told ‘Sky Sports’ after a convincing win over the Magpies.
Newcastle had not beaten Arsenal since November 2010 and not won away since December and they appeared to set themselves up for a draw at best in North London, with five men in the back line and another four in front of them for most of the game.
The tactics worked until a sweeping Arsenal move in which Welsh midfielder Ramsey found Lacazette and then raced forward into the area to meet the return pass with a sweetly timed left-foot shot that went into the net off the far post.
Arsenal pushed forward repeatedly as the opening period came to a close but failed to finish off any of their moves, with Sead Kolasinac particularly guilty of some wayward passing.
Lacazette wrapped up the points for the Gunners, however, when Newcastle captain Jamaal Lascelles failed to clear a header into the area from Arsenal substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Frenchman nipped in behind Lascelles and chipped an inch-perfect ball over Martin Dubravka to seal the win.
Reuters