Half time: Magpies 0 Gunners 0

49 mins Alexandre Lacazette cleverly won a free-kick in a central spot 25 yards away from the Leazes goal but Federico Fernandez should have been wiser by not conceding in that position. 

From first glance it appeared that Xhaka's left-footed dead ball effort was perfectly placed, but TV footage later suggested that Martin Dubravka would be disappointed not to have kept it out as he leapt to his left in vain 0-1

58 mins Xhaka found space down the Arsenal left and his pull back into the area teed up Lacazette, whose low first time effort was charged down by Fernandez. The rebound fell into the path of Mesut Ozil and he marked his first visit to SJP by passing it first time into the net.

The shot didn't look too powerful and was fairly central but the Magpies custodian may have been unsighted by a trio of his colleagues who were in his line of vision  0-2

90+1 mins A pinpoint cross from Fernandez down the right found Clark's head and the power of the effort from the far corner of the six yard box meant that Cech could only help it into the net. 1-2

Full time: Magpies 1 Gunners 2

Rafa Benitez:

Knees-up madre Marrón. Emery has turned into a proppa geezer already....

Unai Emery said: 

"In the first half we didn’t control the match like we wanted to. Also, we needed that control to input our ideas. We conceded a lot of chances for transitions and counter-attacks, but not giving away major chances. They had a lot of corners and a lot of possibilities to arrive in our box. 

"In the second half, the balance on the pitch was better - our positioning and when we were attacking we didn’t make the transition easy for us. I think the key is the first goal. 

"This goal gave us the confidence to continue to improve in the match. We finished the match with the result.

"We need to improve and score more individually, we need we work every player, not only the attacking players the midfielders and centre backs from set pieces. We want to give them all a chance to score but normally all the attacking players will do more.

"It’s normal, I want the players I change or don’t start to be angry, they have ambition to help the team.

About Ozil:

"For me I see the players are the same, each have quality. His [Ozil’s] quality helps the team, it is important he scored. 

"I want not only for him to assist we need him to go in the box and score like today. I will work with every player and continue our process to create the team as we want."
 

0-2 down and worryingly ragged, the arrival of Kenedy for Murphy and Yoshinori Muto for Ritchie (who had been angling to come off for some time) did nowt to suggest there was any way back - the Brazilian especially wayward, prompting more attacks for the visitors than his current side.

Further Arsenal goals that had seemed inevitable failed to arrive, but still a half-hearted Newcastle failed to make any impression until the final moments of play. Cech's save from Joselu was then followed by Clark's fine header from an excellent centre by fellow defender Fernandez.

And even then, Arsenal were able to see out the final few seconds - aided by our embarrassing inability to get the ball into the opposition half. Urgency clearly isn't in our collective vocabulary.

Almost inevitably, the Arsenal 4-4 game in 2011 was mentioned during a lively post-match inquest (brought to you by our sponsors Brinkburn Street Brewery), recalling the never-say-die spirit that made the unlikeliest of fight backs possible and gave the crowd something to cling on to and cheer. 

What was absent from the current crop today though was the sort of belligerence that won two penalties and had a visiting player heading for an early bath. Getting into the opposition area might also have helped.... 

Memories of times past extended to another 1-2 reverse here, almost ten years to the day, when the latest post-Kevin Keegan era began with defeat to Hull City. That took place amid a poisonous atmosphere outside the ground and one devoid of anything inside. Not far off today then really.

The wasted decade between brought us to where we are now, once again a club at war - something that has a bit of a track record of ending badly. 1988/89, 2008/09.....

And when it's wrong here, it's knacked good and proper: if there's something to cheer on the field, that's often enough to gloss over our many other shortcomings. If not, then everything is wrong. Be it the temperature of the pies, subliminal messages in the SJP DJs set list or the colour of the netty walls, it's all a disgrace.

There's a current social media trend of highlighting the crumbling facilities in SJP, but had twitter been around in the 1980s, the state of Gallowgate bogs would have had Médecins Sans Frontières treating people for trench foot. Not that those who inhabited them were particularly bothered, as long as Peter Beardsley or Chris Waddle were on form. 

People are now noticing that roofs are leaking and seats are broken partly because they spend so much time slumped in them - with nothing happening on the pitch to bring them to their feet.

It's difficult to argue against the size of the task that the fixture list presented us with this time round - except when looking back at where we actually got our points from last season. On that basis, the apparently "easier" games that now await us are nothing of the sort. 

Similarly, the first-choice XI (if it exists) is yet to start a match, but receiving weekly regular reminders that what lies beneath it is as uninspiring as was feared does little to lift spirits.

If another week of rest results in Shelvey pinging balls in for Rondon to batter the Crystal Palace defence on Saturday then rest assured they'll all be toasted in London Pride. 

If not though, it's rather easier to bemoan the lack of instinctive movement and the inability to complete simple passes by their understudies - and a succession of mediocre signings unsurprisingly giving mediocre performances.

This latest loss isn't a disaster, but one point from the first 15 available tells a story of time rapidly running out. The sequence may be seen as a triumph for our goal difference in time - but only if we have enough points for that to count at the business end of the season.

We go to Selhurst Park separated from the bottom of the table by goal difference, desperately in need of points and also a demonstration that there's stomach for the fight and enough talent and application to trade blows meaningfully. 

Judged by the second half capitulation today, there's genuine doubt it exists.
 
Biffa/Niall