Arsenal’s best and worst players at the win against Newcastle United

Arsenal secured their first Premier League top-two finish since 2016 with an impressive 2-0 victory over Newcastle United on Sunday.
The Gunners had to deal with plenty of Newcastle incursions into their defensive third, but in the end a quality strike from captain Martin Odegaard and a magic moment from Gabriel Martinelli proved the difference between the two teams.
The win puts Arsenal one point ahead of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
Here are Arsenal’s best and worst players at St James’ Park, thanks to 90 Minutes player ratings.
Arsenal’s best player against Newcastle United

Martin Odegaard: 9/10

The Arsenal captain set a good example on Sunday afternoon by scoring his 15th Premier League goal of the season in a 2-0 win. Odegaard’s goal, a 25-yard strike into the bottom corner, also came at the best time for his side. The Gunners came under a lot of pressure in the opening 20 minutes as Newcastle hit the post and created several chances and Odegaard’s goal turned the tide.

A flawless performance by a truly fantastic footballer.
Honorable mention

Aaron Ramsdale: 9/10

While Odegaard made the difference on one side, Ramsdale did the same on the other.

Arsenal’s number one made a string of brilliant saves to ensure his side walked away with all three points on Sunday. Most notable was the one Fabian Schar denied in what looked like a close range safe goal. Arsenal’s Worst Player vs Newcastle United

Ben White: 5/10

If your goaltender is rated 9/10, chances are something was wrong with the defensive line in front of him.
What fell short on Sunday was right-back Ben White. The England international struggled all afternoon to contain the threat from Alexander Isak.

Dishonorable Mention

Oleksandr Zinchenko: 6/10

A 6/10 isn’t a particularly bad mark, but Zinchenko was one of the few players who didn’t really leave a real mark on Sunday’s Gunners game.
“There’s a reason he was substituted after 60 minutes. 

Mikel Arteta seems to agree with Oleksandr Zinchenko’s criticism after ‘problem’ allegation

Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko had an afternoon to forget at St James’ Park after being taken off in place of Kieran Tierney with over half an hour to play

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta assesses Newcastle game

Oleksandr Zinchenko has undoubtedly been a winning transfer for Arsenal since arriving from Manchester City last summer, but the left-back’s play certainly has its weaknesses.
The same frailties were evident in the Gunners’ impressive 2-0 away win at in-form Newcastle on Sunday afternoon. Although Mikel Arteta’s men had a great time, most of the Magpies’ attacks came through Zinchenko, apparently deliberately targeting the Ukraine international.

The 26-year-old struggled against waves of pressure from Newcastle and was beaten far too easily by Jacob Murphy early in the second half which almost could have resulted in an equalizer for the hosts had Arsenal not been saved by the goal post. Arteta had seen enough and snagged Zinchenko soon after in place of Kieran Tierney, who spent most of the season playing second fiddle to Zinchenko despite being the superior defender in the eyes of many.
Despite all of Zinchenko’s remarkable technical qualities, he has struggled desperately defensively in recent weeks and has come under heavy criticism from a man who has experience as an Arsenal defender himself, in William Gallas.

When the Gunners staged a shocking 3-3 draw at the Emirates last month against bottom Southampton, Gallas turned his face to Zinchenko and said: “The defense was terrible.
Say your opinion! Is Zinchenko’s defensive ability a problem for Arsenal? Comments below… Oleksandr Zinchenko didn’t play his best game against Newcastle

“Zinchenko was asleep before Southampton’s third goal. It wasn’t the first time he had been found wanting.
“Defending is not his strong point. One-on-one is often a problem.”

Given Arteta’s decision to withdraw the left-back when it became clear he was fighting a losing battle at St. James’ Park, the Arsenal manager appears to agree with Gallas’ assessment of the situation.
Tierney immediately offered more defensively after being introduced to proceedings and as a result Arteta was able to continue thinking about how to handle the Scotsman’s playing time problem. The former Celtic star hasn’t played as much this term compared to previous seasons and speculation has begun that Tierney could be elsewhere in search of regular first-team football this summer.

Arteta could now consider parting ways with Tierney anytime soon because while Zinchenko has been a shining light for most of the campaign, there are some areas where he leaves Arsenal weakened, as Gallas starkly pointed out a few weeks ago .

Courtesy: Mirror