An absolute sickener at St James' Park - Newcastle 1-2 Arsenal

A brutal end to a bruising day for Newcastle United, who conceded two late goals and lost a big player to a potentially serious injury as Arsenal came away 2-1 winners from St James' Park.

The system change did not make for a pretty watch, but with just over 15 minutes left to play, we were 1-0 up thanks to Nick Woltemade's first half strike and hoping to see out our second win of the season.

However, we saw Tino Livramento stretchered off, former Mag Mikel Merino equalise on 84 minutes and Gabriel score from a corner deep into stoppage time to complete a late comeback and a total collapse from our perspective, sadly.

VAR played its part (again) and somehow denied Newcastle a clear penalty to go 2-1 up as Anthony Elanga's effort was clearly blocked by Gabriel's arm in anything but a 'natural' position, but we had ourselves to blame in the end, managing our lead poorly and conceding two set pieces while having four towering centre-backs on the pitch.

The result leaves us with just one win in the opening six games, stuck down in 15th and the league's joint lowest scorers with four goals so far. Yet, perhaps the biggest blow today is the worrying injury to Livramento, who was in tears as he came off after falling awkwardly on his knee.

Howe made six changes from midweek, with Pope, Burn, Livramento, Tonali, Murphy and Woltemade coming in, with Hall missing out and Ramsdale, Krafth, Miley, Elanga and Osula dropping to the bench.

Newcastle XI Pope, Livramento, Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Murphy Tonali, Guimaraes, Joelinton, Gordon, Woltemade.

Subs: Ramsdale, Trippier, Lascelles, Barnes, Krafth, Osula, Elanga, Willock, Miley

Arsenal made a strong start and Pope, our unsung hero of the first half, made one of three vital interventions, pulling off a superb early save to deny Eze. Our new system saw Burn faced up against Saka and he had a tough start which fortunately wasn’t punished.

At the other end, we forced a flurry of corners and our first sight of goal as Thiaw headed straight at Raya before the games first big talking point. Gyokeres went down under Pope’s challenge and the initial decision was penalty. However, a VAR check showed the Toon stopper took the ball first, sparking St James’ Park back into life after a big let off that was inches away from a penalty and red card for the ‘denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity.’

Another Arsenal attack saw Trossard go close, smashing the post after arriving as the spare man, and they’d soon live to regret it as Newcastle took the lead through that man again, big Nick Woltemade! A rare goal from a corner and another towering header, where Gabriel wasn’t strong enough, allowing our club record signing to score another vital first half goal at the Leazes End.

The final big moment of the opening 45 saw Thiaw show his class with a superb piece of defending, stopping a big Arsenal break by holding up Gyokeres and reading his every step to perfection just as the Swede broke into the box. It was a top performance from the former AC Milan centre-back, who looked imposing physically, fast across the ground and confident on the ball.

The second half wasn't an easy watch, as we struggled to keep the ball or offer enough of an attacking outlet, other than a fast break from the restart that almost saw Woltemade score again, only to be denied by Murphy's offside and the crossbar!

Pope made another superb stop on the hour mark, this time tipping Timber's header wide. Much of our defending had been superb, but our midfield could not get a grip of the game, our wide men were pushed back and Woltemade was often lacking support, no matter how good some of his link play was with his back to goal.

Howe made a triple change with 25 minutes to play, seeing Osula, Elanga and Trippier replace Woltemade, Gordon and Murphy, giving us more pace on the break and another body at the back.

Livramento's injury was a sickener in so many ways. An awkward landing from Saliba's push, a delay that left St James' Park a little flat and the man himself in tears as he was carried off on a stretcher, seeing Lascelles come on.

Then, with 84 minutes on the clock, Arsenal found their goal. A Rice cross from the left and glancing header from Merino was the moment they'd been searching for, giving them the equaliser and plenty of stoppage time to find another given the stoppage for Tino's injury.

That said, it was Newcastle who could and should have won it first in one of few second half attacks, as Elanga's strike very clearly struck Gabriel's hand, with his arm up high and wide, playing a key role in diverting the effort while not in a natural position.

But VAR somehow ignored it and we know the rest. An erratic Pope kick, which was trying to release Elanga on the break, gifted the ball back to Arsenal in the 96th minute, they forced a corner and Gabriel powered a header home with seconds left to play.

An absolute gut punch, rounding off a really poor second half in the worst possible way, handing Arsenal a rare win at St James' Park after losing to nil in their last three visits.

Next up, a trip to Union SG in the Champions League on Wednesday before a vital home clash with Nottingham Forest in the league.

Keep the faith. HWTL.