Arsenal 0-0 Newcastle: Toon equal club record in defiant display at the Emirates

A defiant display from Eddie Howe's Mags as that black and white wall kept yet another clean sheet in a 0-0 draw in North London.

In a meeting between the league leaders and country's best defence, it was a fascinating battle that saw us become the first Premier League side to stop Arsenal from scoring this season, also being the only team to have taken a point from the Emirates.

We struggled to pose a threat in the final third, managing just one shot on target and 33% possession, but we stood strong in the key moments and frustrated Arsenal throughout after surviving an early period of pressure from the home side.

The result takes us five clear of Tottenham in 5th and secures our SIXTH straight clean sheet in the league (a club-record!), with Sven Botman and Fabian Schar both delivering outstanding displays to deny an attack that had scored seven goals in their last two games.

Howe made one change from last week's 0-0 draw with Leeds, seeing Callum Wilson replace Chris Wood up top. Given how our number nine terrorised the Gunners when we last met in May, it felt like a no-brainer.

Many called for a fit-again Allan Saint-Maximin to start, believing he could cause Ben White problems down the left, but the boss stuck by Joelinton. The Brazilian offers less going forward, but perhaps Howe was conscious of helping Dan Burn deal with Bukayo Saka?

The home side came flying out of the traps, first blazing over through Odegaard before Saka saw a shot stopped by Nick Pope after leaving Burn for dead. We were trying our best to press, but Arteta's side skipped beyond our midfield and full-backs far too easily in the opening stages, seeing us survive a mini storm in the opening 10 minutes.

The game had settled down midway through the first half, yet we were struggling to impose ourselves on Arsenal's defence, with too many hopeful balls up to Callum Wilson and Joelinton coming straight back at us. Two soft yellow cards then followed in quick succession, as Bruno Guimaraes and Callum Wilson went into the book for late challenges. The card-happy referee created a rod for his own back at this point, as the home begged for more bookings every time we committed a foul.

Thankfully, that approach soon cost the home side, as Nketiah and Odegaard were cautioned for blatant tugs of the shirt before the break. This high intensity affair had become scrappy, but we had to keep our heads as yet another late lunge saw Xhaka go into the book. Andy Madley had lost the plot , which wasn't good news for Schar or Trippier - two players facing a ban if they picked up another yellow!

By far our biggest chance of the half then arrived seconds before the break. Trippier's wicked delivery was flicked on by Schar and met at the back post by Joelinton, only for the Brazilian to head wide at the back post. Howe would've been content to head into the break at 0-0 after that backs against the wall start, but this felt like another missed opportunity we could go on to regret.

New signing Garang Kuol was in the crowd after arriving from Australia this week and witnessed another fast start; this time from the Toon. Schar headed over and Almiron flashed a ball across goal that was almost prodded home by Wilson.

Positive signs from a Newcastle side who'd come out from the break full of belief, yet it was baffling to see an already booked Granit Xhaka remain on the pitch after he stopped a promising counter attack. Where's the consistency?

Then, to make matters worse moments later, Joelinton conceded a free kick in a dangerous area AND received a yellow for his troubles after a brilliant recovery tackle on Saka. The dangerous delivery thankfully came to nothing, but Andy Madley really was having a stinker, bowing to pressure from the crowd soon after to book Miguel Almiron.

With 25 minutes remaining, Arsenal were back on top and dominating possession. We were relying on the odd counter attack and beginning to look leggy when we broke, seeing Howe bring on Chris Wood and Jacob Murphy in place of Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron. A surprise to see no Allan Saint-Maximin, but in Eddie we trust.

As an attacking threat we weren't offering enough, yet we continued to frustrate an Arsenal side struggling to break down our black and white wall, as inch perfect interceptions from Botman and Schar kept Martinelli and Saka at bay. Joelinton also deserved huge credit for the shift he was putting in, winning his battles and protecting Dan Burn brilliantly. The bloke is a man mountain that just NEVER stops running.

The hosts then went within inches of a 1-0 lead just before the 80 minute mark, as Martinelli glanced a corner narrowly wide of Pope's far post. Phew.

Wood and Murphy hadn't offered enough since coming on, but Willock was beginning to get some joy down the left, enjoying a couple of driving runs that started with promise but ultimately came to nothing.

The former Arsenal midfielder was then forced off with a muscle injury just as Sean Longstaff also hit the deck. Allan Saint-Maximin replaced the former and Arsenal almost took the lead seconds later, only for Pope's outstretched leg to deny a goal-bound snapshot from Eddie Nketiah with just a few minutes of the 90 to play.

Five minutes of added time were signalled and, after Bruno Guimaraes gave it the big'n in front of the away end, Dan Burn forced a 93rd minute corner. Could we? The answer was no, but we held out for a well-deserved draw - despite a last second VAR call that went against the Gunners - and yet another clean sheet!

Next up, a trip to Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup on Saturday, followed by a Premier League clash with Fulham a week on Sunday.

HWTL!