The Premier League championship battle has plenty of life left thanks to Arsenal's demonstration of spirit and resiliency.
After David De Gea's most recent error in another away defeat for Manchester United, the battle to finish in the Champions League qualifying spots is still far from finished.
By handing Newcastle a rare home setback, Arsenal atoned for one of its most traumatic defeats under Mikel Arteta and placed strong pressure on Manchester City just when it seemed the reigning champions could be coasting to the championship.
With three months remaining in the season, City has a one-point lead after Arsenal defeated them 2-0 at a tense St. James' Park. With three away games in its last four games, City has a game in hand but faces a more difficult schedule.
“Let's keep going and digging and digging, and see what is there,” remarked Arteta after a victory secured by long-range goals from Martin Odegaard in the 14th and Fabian Schar in the 71st minutes.
Arsenal's players were pushed and roughed up during a tough match, and they also enraged the home crowd with shrewd moves that may have beyond the bounds of sportsmanship.
Anything to maintain the possibility of a first league championship since 2004.
Odegaard stated, “We sometimes had to be very ugly and very smart.”
For a young squad like ours to come here and do the feats we achieved is a major step.
Erik ten Hag's vulnerable club, who fell 1-0 at West Ham only three days after losing by the same margin at Brighton on a 99th-minute penalty, only makes one in six away trips.
The goal for West Ham came considerably earlier when De Gea somehow let Said Benrahma's feeble drive from beyond the box glide past his extended arm and slowly into the net in the 27th minute.
De Gea has committed four more mistakes that have resulted in goals this season than any other Premier League player, according to Opta, the provider of statistics for the league. De Gea also made a critical error against Sevilla when United lost to them last month in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
United remained in fourth position, two points behind of Newcastle in third.
Despite having played one more game, Liverpool, who is in fifth position and a point behind United, was the major winner on Sunday.
Match-Up Video
Arsenal's players were shown highlights from their 2-0 defeat at Newcastle last season, which lost them a chance to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League, before they left the team hotel to travel to St. James' Park.
That day, they were outplayed and bullied, but they seemed to have learnt their lesson.
Arteta stated of the film, “We had to see our faces and understand the emotions, not just the players but the staff as well.”
“This is a terrible sensation, and you don't want to be like this any longer. Today, we had to exhibit a new kind of rivalry, ambition, and quality.
Odegaard scored a goal against the flow of the game. When the Norway playmaker hammered a low effort between the legs of Newcastle defender Sven Botman and past custodian Nick Pope, Newcastle had previously hit the post via Jacob Murphy and had a penalty disallowed after a VAR review.
Newcastle suffered for its waste when Schar turned Gabriel Martinelli's cross into his own net, while Alexander Isak also struck the post with a header.
“The noise was there today,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, whose club suffered only its second home defeat of the year. “We just needed to score, and it would have helped us take off.”
VERY SAFE
West Ham may be able to afford to concentrate on winning a European trophy in the closing weeks of the season since its Premier League survival is all but certain.
With three games remaining—two of which are against clubs further down the rankings in Leeds and Leicester—the victory against United propelled West Ham to 37 points, seven points above the bottom three.
West Ham is still competing in the Europa Conference League, and their semifinal matchup against Dutch team AZ Alkmar will begin on Thursday at home.