Painful 3/10 and one 7 - Newcastle player ratings from Arsenal defeat

Another defeat for Eddie Howe's Mags as we lost 1-0 to an edgy Arsenal on Saturday night, making it nine defeats in our last 12.

We were better, which isn't saying much, but one wonder-strike from Ebere Eze and missed chances at the other end cost us at the Emirates.

Here are our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved last night. 

Starting 11

Pope (4.5) - Recalled to the starting line up and could do nothing about the goal but a moment of madness in the second half proved why he isn’t a long term solution between the sticks. 

Miley (6) - Economical in possession and reasonably solid in defence. Enjoys the extra time on the ball he is afforded at full back. Whipped some decent crosses in too.

Thiaw (6) - Switched off for the short corner that led to the winning goal. Doesn’t make a lot of errors but when he does they usually prove costly. Needs to cut that out of his game and fast.

Botman (5.5) - Hasn’t quite looked the same since his return from injury and is looking less like a Rolls Royce as the weeks pass. 

Burn (6) - Brought in ahead of Lewis Hall which had to be for tactical reasons (to negate Arsenal’s threat from set pieces). As usual, he was fully committed and put a decent shift in. 

Willock (4.5) - Nearly had an assist after 20 seconds but that was as good as it got for the ex-Arsenal man. Unfortunately he was largely anonymous as has been so often the case in his Newcastle career.

Guimaraes (6) - A welcome return to the starting XI for our skipper. His calming presence in the centre of midfield seemed to give a lift to those around him even if he was far from his best. Should’ve rested Raya early on but clearly lacking match sharpness.

Tonali* (7) - Comfortably the best player in black and white as he ran his socks off in and out of possession. Tested Raya with a swerving shot in the first half and refreshingly seemed eager to take shots which is a rarity in this team it seems!

Murphy (3) - Couldn’t tell you a single thing that he did which is a damning indictment. Unfortunately, the game just bypassed him and he offered nothing in attack. Defensively, he put more effort in than he did last week, which is a plus, but I just won't know what he offers anymore.

Ramsey (4) - Shoehorned out on the left wing and never looked comfortable. Often drifted centrally but rarely doing anything of substance in possession. Is clearly more suited to the central midfield role but is another of the square pegs being placed into round holes by an increasingly desperate Eddie Howe.

Osula (4) - Should’ve scored after 20 seconds but he failed to even hit the ball, summing up his erratic nature. Frustratingly, he seems to make the difficult look easy and the easy look difficult.

Substitutes 

Barnes (4) - Came onto the right wing but again failed to have the desired impact. Was once a reliable super sub but is now floundering like many of his teammates.

Wissa (4) - Ballooned a golden opportunity to equalise after being played in delightfully by Woltemade. Was great to see them link up and hopefully we can see a bit more of it before the season ends.

Woltemade (6) - Brought on in what seems like his natural position in the number 10 role and carved out a wonderful opportunity for Wissa. Made the most of the minutes afforded to him.

Elanga (4) - Offered so little once again. A short cameo, but he couldn't beat his man and looked unable to show any quality on the ball.