Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal

Our first meaningful game of the season, and it's one nil to the Arsenal!  An away win, an away clean sheet, decent performances all around.  We even got to see a little Pepe and Ceballos in the second half.  Yes, it was Newcastle, who looked a bit shaky in midfield, but the hosts gave a very good account of themselves with a disciplined defensive effort and a lot of hustle.  To this anxious Gunner, the Magpies seemed to get to more second balls.  Joelinton looked very very good with his holdup play and work rate. 

But enough about them.  Leno was quite good, the back line solid enough.  I was delighted to see Chambers play so well, though his distribution was a disappointment.  AMN made the goal, really, with a tremendous steal and a fine pass to a wide open PEA, who finished beautifully.  Auba had a good game, I thought.  Mkhi had a strange game, being involved in a lot of good offensive moves that seemed to go nowhere, but staying anonymous for stretches.  I don't think he gave AMN enough help defensively, but fortunately he and Chambers were up to the task on the right side of defense.  Reiss Nelson worked hard but doesn't look quite ready for the Premier League.  He tired in the second half, leading to turnovers.  Willock played his heart out, and it would be churlish to ask him to be brilliant too.  Xhaka seems insufficiently mobile for a central mid, but Guendouzi covered a lot of ground.  Still, the space we afforded Newcastle makes me uneasy about facing a more creative side.  When Ceballos came in, it didn't change much, but then it didn't have to, because we were in the lead.  Pepe and Martinelli had little to do.  I thought it odd that all three subs were brought in when we were one goal up and they were offensive.  I half expected Luiz to be added to the midfield in place of Willock, and Xhaka moved a little higher up.

We didn't learn much today, except that we have a couple of academy graduates who can help us this season.  I hope Chambers has earned Emery's confidence.  Nacho was pretty damned good, I thought.

Results elsewhere were as expected, it seems to me.  Spuds left it late again; I was hoping for the smash-and-grab by Villa, lots of red cards, and a sewer backup in the new stadium.  Damn.