Following his release from COVID isolation a day earlier, Eddie Howe was at the Emirates on Saturday to witness the task that lies ahead of him from pitchside for the first time.

That may have been a new experience for the Head Coach, but for the away support this was only too familiar: United suffering an eleventh successive defeat and failing to find the net for the seventh time in a row.

The fruitless hunt for a clean sheet anywhere in the league this season also continued; Howe's attempt to stem the tide resulting in a recall for fit-again Martin Dubravka, Emil Krafth and Ryan Fraser - the latter pair replacing Ciaran Clark in central defence and Jacob Murphy at right wing back.

That the remodelled side made it to the interval without being breached was as much due to Arsenal's sluggishness and profligacy as our solidity - in particular a glaring 41st minute chance that should have given Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a goal against Newcastle for the sixth successive game.

Nuno Tavares crossed for Emile Smith-Rowe to head goalwards from point-blank distance, but although Dubravka pushed the ball out it fell straight to Aubameyang, who somehow hit the post when it looked impossible to miss.

Reaching half time scoreless was welcome, but hardly cause for confidence, given that we'd achieved first half shutouts on each of our previous three visits here before conceding soon after the restart.

That would become four on 56 minutes, when a becalmed United fell victim to a Saka punch; a neat build-up allowing the lively Londoner to fire home.

And ten minutes later the defeat was confirmed by a second home goal - Saka departing with a thigh strain but his replacement Gabriel Martinelli gracefully volleying in his first goal of the season after just 93 seconds after arriving.

Mikel Arteta's side then gradually eased up and allowed United to spend some time in the opposition half; Allan Saint-Maximin with a few runs and Jacob Murphy twice sending balls across the box that reached nobody.

A disappointed Howe took some positives from the performance but his team were always second best in this contest and beaten comfortably by the end.

In our eyes Krafth is just a Swedish version of Ciaran Clark and Fraser did nothing that Murphy or Manquillo wouldn't have emulated. His call to reinstate Dubravka was the right one though; the Slovakian making a couple of decent stops in addition to the Smith-Rowe header from point-blank range.

Retaining his place in the side, Jonjo Shelvey was responsible for the two most dangerous shots of United's recorded five on target - the first of which was struck from long distance and tipped onto the bar by Aaron Ramsdale.

Much post-match comment was devoted to a trio of penalty claims by United; shirt tugs on Fabian Schar and Saint-Maximin and a barge by Gabriel that sent Callum Wilson sprawling immediately before Arsenal made it 2-0.

Amid accusations of bias that had surfaced in the opening minutes of the game when multiple calls went in favour of the hosts, referee Stuart Attwell waved away shouts and VAR official Darren England was equally unmoved.

Coming at the end closest to the away section, the Wilson one looked dubious in real time but calls for the others to be given were led by the TV watchers.

The nagging feeling that the home side would have been awarded at least one of those spot kicks though was only partly negated by the late appeal that Lascelles survived when shoving Martinelli.

Yellow cards for Matt Ritchie and Jamaal Lascelles means that both will now miss Tuesday's must-win visit of Norwich City. Given the shortcomings of both today though in a collective defensive display that left much to be desired, those two enforced changes may not be the worst situation to be in.

Jamal Lewis appears to be an obvious selection against his former club on the left, while it remains to be seen whether the as-yet unexplained exile of Federico Fernandez that pre-dates the arrival of Howe comes to an end.

No points and no goals is par for the course at this venue of course; privately we'd worried that Arsenal's eagerness to atone for their 0-4 loss at Liverpool may have resulted in us being comprehensively beaten.

As it is, hopes of mounting any sort of serious attempt to get out of danger rest on beating Norwich City and Burnley at SJP in the next week. Anything else threatens to leave us cut adrift, given that a failure to land six points will mean that the Canaries and/or the Clarets will have boosted their tallies.

We learnt nothing today that we didn't already know: the problems Howe has inherited lie deeper than merely getting players to have their dinner together. Getting into good habits and including discipline and morale are worthwhile, but trying to build something with sub-standard parts is doomed to failure.

Biffa