PREMIER LEAGUE
*Diogo Jota double fires Liverpool one point behind leaders Chelsea
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were on the scorers’ sheet as Arsenal eventually broke Newcastle United down 2-0 to leave Eddie Howe’s side bottom of the Premier League without a win.
Howe, in the Magpies dugout for the first time after missing last weekend’s 3-3 draw with Brentford because of Covid, set up a team to try to contain Arsenal and eke out a point.
It appeared as if the strategy might be working until Bukayo Saka slotted home from Nuno Tavares’ through ball in the second half.
Saka went off injured and his replacement Gabriel Martinelli scored with his second touch, a wonderful volley from Takehiro Tomiyasu’s clipped pass over the top.
“He wasn’t comfortable. He felt something,” said Gunners boss Mikel Arteta of Saka as they await news of what is wrong with the England international.
Both sides had hit the woodwork in an otherwise uninspiring first half.
Jonjo Shelvey’s long-range drive was tipped on to the bar by the diving Aaron Ramsdale – and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a sitter off the post from six yards out.
Arsenal remain fifth in the Premier League, while Newcastle are five points adrift of safety with just over a third of the season gone.
Newcastle are on their longest ever winless run from the start of a league season. Only one side has ever stayed up in the Premier League after failing to win their opening 13 games – Derby County in 2000-01.
The Magpies know the further adrift they are on 1 January, when they have a chance to spend some of their Saudi owners’ money, the harder it will be to attract quality players.
It is unlikely though that Howe will have identified Emirates Stadium as a place to pick up points. The Gunners have won their past 10 home games against Newcastle in all competitions, and have never lost a Premier League home game against the team bottom of the table.
Elsewhere, Diogo Jota scored twice as Liverpool thrashed Southampton to move up to second in the Premier League, one point behind leaders Chelsea.
Southampton arrived at Anfield clearly determined to attack the hosts but their bold intent was punished after less than two minutes when Andrew Robertson was allowed to get away down the flank and cross for Jota to poke in.
But a second goal duly arrived just after the half-hour mark when the unmarked Jota tapped in from Mohamed Salah’s square ball after good link-up play between the Egypt international and Jordan Henderson.
Those two strikes took Liverpool to 700 goals scored since Jurgen Klopp arrived at Anfield – they have also become the first top-flight team in English football to score at least twice in 17 straight matches in all competitions since Sunderland in 1927. Thiago Alcantara and Virgil van Dijk completed the 4-0 crushing of the visitors to Anfield.
