NEWCASTLE 1 ARSENAL 0 (PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH DAY 30)

Another disappointing outing as a weakened Arsenal side slumped to a 2nd league loss on the trot – and 1st on our travels all season long – to relinquish 1st place for the first time in several months. We still sport a game in hand on Chelsea, who lead us with a solitary point, but there’s no doubt that we’ve got the tougher run-in with a visit to Aston Villa and a visit from Manchester United still to come.

Fabregas was easily robbed in the middle of the park, setting up a break that saw Campbell recklessly haul down Michael Owen inside the area. Michael Chopra stepped up to take the resultant penalty kick, but Lehmann was equal to it. Rather than learning from the experience, we still struggled to find any rhythm and, on the quarter-hour, James Milner dispatched a glorious free kick that left Lehmann stranded and handed the home side a lead that we failed to adequately challenge. Chelsea, on the other hand, one 2-0 over Portsmouth to edge ahead of us in the standings and set up a tense and frantic finish to the season. We’re clearly not the form side in this equation, having easily handed over the impetus, and we’ll have our backs up against it if we’re to repeat as champions this season.

N’CASTLE 1 (James Milner 14’)
ARSL 0

ARSENAL TEAM RATINGS: Jens Lehmann: 7 – Billy Jones: 8, Kolo Touré: 6, Sol Campbell: 6, Ashley Cole: 8 – Fredrik Ljungberg: 6 (Valeri Bojinov [57’]: 7), Francesc Fabregas: 7, Mathieu Flamini: 6, Gaël Clichy: 6 (Nicklas Bendtner [57’]: 7) – Vincenzo Iaquinta: 6, Robin van Persie: 6 (Aliaksandr Hleb: 6 [75’])

STATS:

Newcastle 1 Arsenal 0 – Match Stats

STANDINGS:

Premier League Standings at the end of March

~ by savageternal on April 12, 2009.