Two late Arsenal goals seal huge win at Newcastle to close gap on Liverpool

15:33Jamie Redknapp:So they're trying to put a net ball into an area, but once that ball then gets played in, you can see the short one, Eze plays it short. Now Declan knows what he wants to do. Then all of a sudden three players then come out. Then you've got a nice big gap in the middle. So now all of a sudden you've got two, three, four yards of space, which makes all the difference.

15:49Kelly Cates:And what that allows is movement. And that's what you see there. Lots of movement. In the early corners they were taking, they were just putting them in, putting them in and saying, right, you go and attack it. And it was 1v1. Once you start getting movement, then you're moving defenders out of the way. And once it goes short, people start moving. And that's what caught Newcastle.

16:06Jamie Redknapp:Absolutely. But after that, I think Newcastle would have created their own downfall. Because the game management now, you've got one all. You know that that point is in your hands. And we both went, when Nick Pope gets his ball, go down. Just buy yourself a few seconds. Instead, he's trying to play Alanga. You're under pressure. You're tired. You're chasing a few shadows right now. The ascendancy is with Arsenal. It's a really bad mistake from Nick Pope, who'd been brilliant all game. Then they get caught. The cells put it out for a corner. Now it's all on because Arsenal are one of the best players, one of the best at set pieces.

16:37Jamie Redknapp:Is it? Well, it's irrelevant.

16:38Kelly Cates:And here, Jay, you know, when he picks the ball up here, what I don't understand is Alanga is going up against three. It's not like he's one-on-one with someone.

16:47Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, exactly. And in the delivery, there's a great header by Gabriel.

16:50Kelly Cates:I mean, listen, again, Pope gets caught in no man's land. Saliba's standing in front of him. He can't get around him. He goes to try and get it. No chance. And we've seen Arsenal do this time and time again. We've seen this guy, Gabriel, do it time and time. And he gets into that position. Goalkeeper's in no man's land. And it's an open goal for him.

17:08Jamie Redknapp:And Saliba does so well. Watch Saliba. He does enough, makes it difficult for him. And I think what Nick Pope's trying to do, because he's trying to rectify the mistake that he'd made earlier, All he has to do is just calm down. And it was obviously a different type of goal because when Liverpool scored with Ngomoua, they were chasing a win. They had 10 men at a time. A point would have been a great result. And I think sometimes it's enthusiasm. You've got to credit them to a certain extent. But in that moment, for Nick Pope just to take his time, take the sting out of the game and just realise a point is still a great result against a really good Arsenal side.

17:42Jamie Redknapp:But they get, I would call it, a little bit greedy.

17:44Les Ferdinand:And they've been ahead for so long. Gabriel was claiming a foul in the opening goal. I think in real life, sorry, in real life, in real time it may look like there was a little bit more of a nudge there. But Mascara having given away the corner, Newcastle managed to work it really well.

18:05Kelly Cates:And the same thing we were talking about, if we look at here, look where Valdemar is, he goes out, spins round, comes round and Gabriel actually loses him and then feels a little touch on his back and thinks, I'll go down, I'll get a penalty, yeah. But it's hardly a touch and bang. Great header. Great header, Les. Yeah, great header. Great header, goalkeeper's got no chance.

18:23Jamie Redknapp:Seems a good header, then. Watkins. No, sorry, not Watkins. For Fulham. Jimenez. Jimenez, yeah. So there was a lot of good headers today. That was a really good piece of play. And you thought at that point they were hanging on, they looked comfortable, and then it just, the sting got taken out of it.

18:39Kelly Cates:As we spoke about, you know, at the time, you know, Arsenal are in the ascendancy. and you just need to take the sting out of the game. You knew they were coming on top. They were trying everything they could to score a goal. You could have just taken the sting out of it, but Pope got a little bit enthusiastic and tried to get a lane run, and, unfortunately, it causes the corner.

18:55Les Ferdinand:The crowd here at St James' Park certainly thought that Newcastle could have had a penalty. A lot of the Newcastle players thought they could have had a penalty for a Gabriel handball. What did you think?

19:05Kelly Cates:Yeah, when I saw it, I shouted handball straight away because you see it hit his hand, but then as it comes here, you have to slow it down. and it looks like he gets a touch on it and then it hits Alanga and then it hits his hand. So it's a tough one, but I think they got the decision right in the end.

19:23Les Ferdinand:They have to slow this right down to work out.

19:26Jamie Redknapp:You can just see it just squeezes out here. It's like they both get to the ball at the same time, Gabriel and Alanga, and it just almost gets teed up and then pops up into the air and then hits his arm. Where he's really, really lucky, Gabriel, is his arm is in an unnatural position. There's no way you can say that it isn't. And if they would have given that, I don't think there would have been too many complaints.

19:45Les Ferdinand:By football refereeing decisions. By definitions, I think if you fall down, your arms may well flail about a bit.

19:51Jamie Redknapp:But that was extremely high, Kelly. I don't think that would be disproportionate, as that's the word. But you can see it here. It gets so high. You know, you don't need to get it up that high. And so he's extremely lucky. But I think because where he gets away of it is like Les says, it just squeezes between the two of them, doesn't it?

20:09Kelly Cates:It just gets a touch off him. And if it gets a touch and it deviates, we've talked about that a lot today, deviation. It deviates and it's not a penalty.

20:17Les Ferdinand:Do you know, I was saying, everyone, there's so many decisions in this game, and even at nil-nil, Arsenal feel that they potentially could have had a penalty. And in fact, the penalty was given and then overturned by the referee. And we heard Bukayo Saka saying it took a long time to overturn it. Actually, it took a time because the referee went to review his own decision to make sure that he'd seen everything in the build-up?

20:41Kelly Cates:I think there's a touch. What I said to Jamie afterwards, I said, look, if it was the other way around and he was going through as a centre-forward and a goalkeeper had laid down and got his fingertips and his gloves to it and it deviated like that and the player went over him, it'd never be given as a penalty. It's because he's gone with his feet or his legs and you can see it's touched his foot and it's gone in the opposite direction. So for me, the decision was right. Although, as a centre-forward, I'd be looking for that, as I put it in.

21:09Jamie Redknapp:Absolutely. I can't wait to see or hear what Mikel Arteta says because it might just soften now they've got three points because I think if they'd have lost the game, I think it would be a completely different Mikel Arteta interview. But he might just say, you know what, sometimes you get him, sometimes you don't. I'm fascinated to hear what he says because I feel... I was doing the game last Saturday and it might... Obviously, people can say, well, it was different, but the Sanchez on Umbermo, when he goes through, Sanchez gets the slightest of touches, but it still knocks it past him and he still brings him down.

21:37Jamie Redknapp:And that's just my feeling. But I can understand what Les is saying. I was just surprised it got overturned. Was there enough for it to be overturned?

21:43Les Ferdinand:So the referee went and had a look and decided to review his decision and not to award the penalty. But Jamie was interested to hear what Mikel Arteta thought about it. We will hear from the Arsenal boss next.

22:05Jamie Redknapp:If you're enjoying this podcast, there are plenty more from Sky Sports we think you'll love too. There's the Gary Neville podcast for Gary's immediate reaction to the biggest matches. Transfer Talk has the latest on all the big moves in and out of the Premier League and beyond. And for WSL fans, check out Pitch to Pod with Jordan Nobbs and Nikita Paris. Just search for Sky Sports wherever you get your podcasts. For now, though, let's get back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast.

22:41Les Ferdinand:What a weekend for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal. A late, late win at Newcastle and watching their title rivals defeated on Saturday. Here's Mikel Arteta with Patrick Davison.

22:55Kelly Cates:Well, Mikel, I guess you've been through every possible emotion today. Right now, is it a feeling only football can give you?

23:04Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, pride. I think fully deserves the win. The way we played, the way we performed, the way we competed, the chances we generated, I think we fully deserve to win the game. We did it in a very dramatic manner at the end, but so happy and so proud for the team.

23:24Kelly Cates:You said something before the game about scars making a team. Did it feel like all those heartbreaking moments that you've had here were kind of poured into the whole game, but particularly the last few minutes?

23:35Jamie Redknapp:100 % and that's how you get to a different level. But going through those moments and taking the learnings and experiences from it, we discussed that in the game and it's a massive opportunity now to make a statement and to prove to everybody and ourselves, the team that we are, and we certainly did with the performance and thankfully with the results as well at the end. So is that what that was, a statement? For ourselves, yes, just to prove because it's a terrific team, it's so difficult to play against. We already played at Old Trafford, we played at Anfield, we played Man City, we already played here very early in the season and again the level of consistency and quality we showed in the performance today was top.

24:13Kelly Cates:Do you think maybe this is an external thing, it almost puts a different perspective on the start because now you're right there, as you said you've been to some really tough places and won a couple of them?

24:24Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, we won and the one that we lost we won with a terrific free kick. But again, I think the way we played, the courage, the determination, the intelligence and the quality that we showed today against this team, it was very difficult to them.

24:38Kelly Cates:So do you think, is there almost an element for the players of proving something to themselves a little bit?

24:43Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, that we want to achieve that next level and to achieve that next level, you have to come to these places with a lot of mistakes. when there are certain results yesterday and you want to get back into it and show that conviction, that desire to get it done.

24:57Kelly Cates:So, who does the Liverpool defeat yesterday? It feels like almost more of an end of season question but do you think the whole weekend actually is big?

25:05Jamie Redknapp:There are opportunities in the season, there are moments in the season. You have to come to this place and you have to win and you have to find a way to do it. And again, the impact of the players coming in, it was tremendous, all of them.

25:16Kelly Cates:Tell us about the attacking changes you made, Mikel. I'm not sure how much hand-break chat there will be after this game, but putting Mourinho on, Martinelli, Odegaard, not giving up.

25:27Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, we had to throw everything that we had because we were there and we needed just, I think, Poe was exceptional. I think some of the saves that he's made, well, fair play to him. But we insisted, we believe, we maintain our composure against a team that is very good at managing the results as well. I think we fully deserve to win it.

25:46Kelly Cates:Shall we do a quick VAR watch? It looks like you had the chance early on to go ahead with the penalty. That was overturned. There was a moment towards the end when there was a penalty appeal against Gabriel, but maybe it gets a deflection of the body. Your thoughts on those moments?

26:03Jamie Redknapp:I watch it back and watch it live as well. If it's not a clear and obvious error, I should not intervene. We've been told this for a few years, this start of decision again. And for me, it's very clear that VAR doesn't have to intervene because it's a penalty.

26:19Kelly Cates:Thank you, Mikael.

26:20Jamie Redknapp:Thank you. Thank you.

26:21Les Ferdinand:Well, yes, I take his point, but VAR only intervened to send the on-field referee to go and look at the decision. So it's slightly different in that he's reviewing his own decision rather than having somebody else overturning it. So he went and had a look and that wasn't given. But overall, in terms of what Arsenal did in the game, we looked at the match stats a little bit earlier. So many shots, so many shots on target, so much possession. The XG, whatever weight we place on that, was so much higher than Newcastle. They dominated that game and regardless of various controversial decisions, you would say they deserve to win it.

27:01Kelly Cates:Yeah, of course. I think, you know, if you was in Newcastle changing and you came in and you got a draw or you won the game, you'd have probably felt like a bit of a bandit, really. You should have had a mask on because, you know what I mean, you didn't do enough to win the game. Defended well, defended very well. But, you know, they were under the cosh for most of the game. First half, I thought Arsenal were exceptional. And then for periods in the second half, Newcastle got back into it. But then, you know, towards the end, Arsenal were in the ascendancy again. And as you said, you look at the XG, you look at the shots and you say, well, you can't come away and not say that, you know, Arsenal didn't deserve to win this.

27:36Les Ferdinand:But before the game, we were talking about whether Mikel Arteta's team selection would sort of give us an idea about what he thought about Newcastle. What do you think it did tell us that he chose to approach this differently than he did Liverpool or Manchester City?

27:50Kelly Cates:I think he went after this. He went after this today. You know, he played the attacking players. They were on the front foot. You know, first half, Pope made two or three great saves that kept Newcastle in the game. So he went for it and those players produced. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper was in fine form in the early part of the game.

28:09Les Ferdinand:He'll say, Mikel Arteta, that this was a game in which he could do that, that he was able to take the handbrake off, which clearly is not an expression he particularly likes. But, you know, he'll say that he can do because he's coming here and he feels that they've got a chance and that maybe he can't do it against Manchester City or Liverpool. Is that right? Or can Arsenal now be a bit more attacking in their approach going forward?

28:32Jamie Redknapp:And I think it was purely based on the midfield. You know, picking Marino or Eze last week. I think a lot of the fans would like to see an Eze start. He went with Marino today and Marino ends up the important player when he gets you the equaliser. So it goes either way. And I think today Eze shows that you can trust him in these big games. You know, he showed if you play him in the midfield position where he's one of the three, he can get on the ball, he can make things happen. Certainly first half, he was the most creative influence on the game. You know, he looked classy when he got it, made things happen.

29:00Jamie Redknapp:So I don't think there's a problem in that respect. But you can mix it up for certain games. But I felt that going the way they did against Liverpool, going the way they did against Man City both times, when you've got an SA in there, I think it was right to utilise him and play in that central position. But, you know what, he'll be delighted. But saying all of that, and yes, they deserved it. Like Les said, the goalkeeper has a massive influence on that. If he just takes a breath, goes down, buys a few seconds, they don't end up winning the game. And they were, in the end, they were creators of their own downfall.

29:28Les Ferdinand:Half their goals this season, Arsenal, half of their 12 goals, have come from corners. Is that a problem? Or do you look at the overall stats from this game and think, do you know what, they're creating loads of chances from open play. They are having those opportunities. And if they rely on corners at times, then so what? It's a valid way to get results in games.

29:49Kelly Cates:Yeah, they're having opportunities, they're making opportunities in the game. And I think this is why we're talking, when we look at this Arsenal team, look, if they play on the front foot, you think they're going to create chances, they're going to score goals. But everyone's got set-piece coaches now, and that's for a reason. That's for a reason, because you know you're going to get free kicks, you're going to get corners, and you might need to do something a bit different to score a goal from one of these set-pieces. So if it weren't that important, why would you have set-piece coaches?

30:14Les Ferdinand:And that's the thing, it's been really important. I think Arna Slott talked about it yesterday, and said that it's becoming more and more important. It's never had an impact in the game, but it's becoming increasingly important. And that's borne out by the numbers. 28 % of the goals this season have been scored from set pieces, which is an increase of 33%.

30:32Jamie Redknapp:Not just that, throw-ins, you see what happens and you see sides that you never believe will be taking long throw-ins. They're utilising it. If you've got a good long throw, it makes it so difficult to defend against. Brentford obviously get labelled a bit the most, but everyone else is doing it. You've only got to look at the leagues this weekend. You looked at all the goals yesterday. lots of goals yesterday, a lot of them come from throw-ins, but set-pieces, you've got to be good in both boxes. Arsenal weren't so good in their own defence, obviously when they get caught with a set-piece, but they score the two vital goals from set-pieces.

31:00Jamie Redknapp:It's the part of the game now, you can't deny it, but I do see a shift in the game, I see a lot more long passes now, I see teams that's going back to front a little bit quicker, if you've got a good centre-forward that wants to run in behind, with defences squeezing up so much, there's nothing wrong with it, it doesn't mean you're a long ball team, that just means you're using your football intelligence to beat the other side. I think for so long the game has been that playing out from the back. It's become easy to defend against. Now you look at Man City, how they're starting to improve, not improve, but how they're starting to almost change and evolve to a certain extent by being more direct, by working teams.

31:31Jamie Redknapp:When you've got somebody who can kick it well, you use it.

31:34Les Ferdinand:As someone who was so effective, as Jamie said, in set pieces, one of the best headers of the ball in the game, from a defensive point of view, how difficult is it to defend? is that one of the reasons why set pieces are being used so much by teams? Because it's really difficult if you get them right to defend against them.

31:53Kelly Cates:We saw a couple of them today. When we talked about the short corners coming in, if you get your movement right and you get a run on the defender, it's very, very difficult for him to stop that run and for you to not get ahead on that ball. We looked at probably the last couple of seasons and for headings going out the game. Not many people were scoring headed goals. and now all of a sudden they've realised that it's such an important part of the game and a massive tool to have in your armour if you can use it and you use it right and we're seeing so many goals being scored that way now and also Les, you have to now

32:27Jamie Redknapp:be able to take on information because you don't just have one or two set pieces, you have maybe six or seven when you see a certain set up so you have a good level of intelligence you have the corner taker ask to know what he's doing set pieces now, the players will have pads of paper and they'll make sure or while they're doing it on the pitch, they know what set piece they're going to do. That's the level of detail. American football's been miles ahead in that respect for many years and now certainly football's following it.

32:50Kelly Cates:I mean, years ago, you would go, right, OK, we're going to do one three times and then you're going to go into two or three and whatever that may be, whatever your movement, and then all of a sudden you change it.

33:00Jamie Redknapp:And then you say, Gaffer, it's a bit cold, can we have a five or so?

33:02Kelly Cates:Yeah, exactly.

33:04Les Ferdinand:Let's take a look then at how Arsenal have been getting on. We can see the numbers here in terms of The games that they've already played, the games that are yet to come, could argue that they've had a tricky start to the season. The most difficult games would be teams that they would be expecting to be playing and challenging for the title alongside them in Liverpool and Manchester City. But they've beaten Manchester United. They've beaten Leeds and beaten them well. They've beaten Nottingham Forest. Now they've beaten Newcastle, who'd won the last four games against them at St James' Park. They've got West Ham, Fulham, Crystal Palace, who we've seen are playing incredibly well here, incredibly well particularly this season, Bernie Sunderland and then the North London derby.

33:49Les Ferdinand:Does this look like a run of fixtures in which Arsenal can put a run of results together?

33:53Kelly Cates:Yeah, you look at it, I said at the start, I don't see a weakness in this team. And I really don't. And what they're bringing off from the bench is going to be a threat to any team. And so when you look at the fixtures to come and what they've played already, and they've had one loss in that. I think this will give them a load of confidence. Coming back in the way they did today will give them a load of confidence and the next games to come, I think they could put a real run of results together. I think so.

34:21Jamie Redknapp:And the fact that, yes, they've got set-piece goals. They've got too much quality in that team to not score goals from open play. You look at players like Eze. I will also say Liverpool haven't had the easiest of starts as well. They've played Arsenal, they've obviously played Bournemouth at home, which is a tough game. Crystal Palace are the form team in the Premier League. They've played a derby against Everton. So it hasn't really been easy for them, you know. So I think right now we're all guessing what can happen. There's going to be a lot of twists and turns. I think what it's shown today is that Arsenal are right in the mix.

34:47Jamie Redknapp:And anyone who's been doubting them is completely wrong.

34:57Jamie Redknapp:You walked into the commentary box, giving it the biggest name drop of all time.

35:04Kelly Cates:Ishigua texts me saying Chris Martin wants your number. And I was like, what, the former New Zealand fast bowler? And she went, no, Chris Martin from Coldplay wants your number. I thought this was a wind-up. And I get a text from Chris Martin saying, I love the pod. I'd love to meet you and Af. And I still think it's a wind-up. So thank you, Chris, for following us and listening to our nonsense.

35:27Jamie Redknapp:I'm Mike Atherton. I'm Nasser Hussain. follow Sky Sports Cricket or get your podcast the usual way however you get them we will be there

35:39Jamie Redknapp:this is the Sky Sports Premier League podcast let's get more analysis of the game and return

35:45Les Ferdinand:to the studio from 34 to 84 minutes Newcastle thought they had all three points from 84 to 96 they thought they might come away with a point but they come away with nothing in the most disappointing of ways. Let's hear now from Eddie Howe with Patrick Davidson.

36:04Kelly Cates:Eddie, obviously the toughest possible way to lose. What did you make of the game over the piece?

36:12Jamie Redknapp:I thought we tried. We gave everything to the game. It was a really physical game. I think you could see that. I don't think we were at our best today. Being totally honest, I thought Arsenal played very well. We had our chances in the game and obviously we took the lead and we were desperate to try and hang on to that lead. Nick made some good saves for us, but it wasn't to be with the set plays at the end of disappointing.

36:36Kelly Cates:Where were you short then? You said you weren't at your best.

36:40Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, I don't know. Early on in the game, I didn't feel physically we looked at our very best today. I thought we looked a little bit jaded. But we took the lead and sometimes you're going to have days, especially with the schedule we've got this season, where you're not maybe at your physical best, but you have to still find a way to win. And it looked like we were on course to do that. I thought Odegaard's introduction changed it for them. I thought he made a difference for them and started to penetrate our lines more. And then, yeah, the set plays. We know they're a good set play team. I felt we defended them pretty well all day until the end.

37:13Kelly Cates:Is that the best version of them that you've faced? Obviously, you've faced them quite a bit in recent seasons.

37:17Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, well, I think they're always a threat. They've got good players. But I just, you know, I have to look at us and our players and I don't feel we hit our best levels individually. And of course, then collectively you suffer. But as I said, we were in the lead and we had what we wanted in a centre goal and we were looking to close the game down.

37:36Kelly Cates:Is there also an element for you that, I don't know if rebuild is too strong a word, but it was obviously a summer of change and maybe you're settling into a new way of doing things, a slightly different way of playing?

37:48Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, I think to a degree. I think there's a feeling that there's been a player change for us, maybe in key positions that's been more than historically but I don't think we can use that as any excuse. We have to find a way to win with the players that we have. It was great to see Nick score and we did have other chances in the game albeit maybe not the rate that we wanted. We have to take accountability for that and look to come back and do better.

38:12Kelly Cates:How different does that make it though, Eddie? Because obviously the player you lost, Alex Izak had an incredible record against them.

38:19Jamie Redknapp:Well, I think it's just against them. I think he had incredible qualities that, of course, you're going to miss. And I said when we signed Nick and Johan, they're totally different players. We're never going to find another Alex. But I think we can find a way to be effective with them in the team. And it's great to see Nick score two goals so early in his Newcastle career. And I thought he took his goal brilliantly today. But just the general style that we produced today, I don't think it was particularly good. Certainly not at our best.

38:47Kelly Cates:It wouldn't be a Newcastle-Arsenal game without some controversy around VAR. You haven't mentioned it, which makes me think maybe you don't think it's such a big deal, but they had a penalty overturned. You had a really big claim for a handball against Gabriel. Your thoughts on those two moments?

39:04Jamie Redknapp:I haven't seen them again, so that's why I haven't mentioned it. So I don't know if VAR didn't give the handball. I had a feeling it was initially, but it wasn't given, so you have to accept it.

39:13Kelly Cates:And also it sounds like you're looking more at the performance not being what you wanted. rather than any sort of moment turning it against you?

39:20Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, I think you have to. I think always in this moment, you have to look at yourselves first. Otherwise, you're not going to grow and develop from it. So I think it's a case for us to analyse the performance, see where we could have improved. Certainly, it wasn't our best one.

39:31Kelly Cates:Lastly, how is Tino Livramento? It didn't look great.

39:34Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, I don't know. I've not spoke to him or anyone from the medical side yet. Thank you. Thank you.

39:41Les Ferdinand:Yeah, it didn't look good for Tino Livramento. and were waiting, as Eddie Howe said, to hear news from Newcastle on that. And he wasn't happy with the way that Newcastle performed overall. Felt maybe they weren't at their best, particularly physically. And that's what Eddie Howe demands from his teams, is real physical fitness and sharpness.

39:58Jamie Redknapp:Yeah, I think it's such a fair assessment because he's called it pretty much as we've said it. It was tough because when you think about Newcastle, we feel we're speaking and waxing lyrical about before the game and how much energy they expend and how they get after you and make it difficult. I felt it was too easy in that first 30 minutes for Arsenal to play through them. They always found the spare man, whereas it's always so difficult normally. Against Liverpool early in the season, Liverpool never had that luxury. But today, they just couldn't. It just felt like they were half a yard off. And sometimes it's difficult to understand why.

40:29Jamie Redknapp:In training, maybe you sense it. Things aren't quite right. Maybe a couple of players have missed a few minutes here and there, and everyone's trying to catch up. Voldemar scored his goal, so you can't really look at that. Yes, Alexander Isak is a blow. He's a miss. but the forwards scored a goal for you today. But it just felt everyone else just wasn't quite at the level. I thought Tiao was excellent at centre-back. I thought he had a really good game. But we said that, would you agree with that, Les? They just weren't quite as fresh as normal.

40:55Kelly Cates:Yeah, I mean, what happens is normally what they had last year was someone that could run in behind. And when that person ran in behind, they were able to get up the pitch and then they were able to press people. I felt Arsenal were able to work in Newcastle's half and they didn't really have an out ball. So every time it came, it just came back in. And Arsenal recycled it. We watched in the second half, and for about 15 minutes, 20 minutes in the second half, they got out of Arsenal, never allowed Arsenal to play. And I said to you, that's what Newcastle normally do. So I understand what Eddie's saying.

41:27Kelly Cates:They didn't seem like the Newcastle we're used to seeing. And like I said, it takes a bit of time to get back in with some new personnel to where you want to be. And as far as Leveramento's concerned, we hope he's OK. but yeah, stuff to work on for them.

41:42Les Ferdinand:But on the plus side for Newcastle, they do have Nick Valdemar up and scoring and scoring what could potentially have been a really important goal for a long period of that game.

41:50Kelly Cates:Yeah, you've got to look at his strengths and what he brings to the side and they've bought him for a reason. As I said, right at the start of the programme, they brought Wisser who was unfortunately injured at the moment. He'll give them that running in behind and I think once he's fit and Valdemar well, will link up with them really well. And that's when you can really look at Newcastle and see what they're trying to do. At the moment, they're just trying to stick a few people in positions that perhaps don't suit them at the moment.

42:19Les Ferdinand:Well, Nick Valtomada then with the opening goal in the game, with Newcastle's goal of the game. He put his hands on Gabriel Saliba's back, on Gabriel's back, who then went down, claiming that it was a foul. And then there was this afterwards. and Nick Valtomada spoke to Pat about it.

42:41Kelly Cates:How was that battle with Gabriel? Because I think he wanted a free kick for a push and then something happened afterwards? Maybe swung an arm or something? Yeah, after the goal there was a situation. I felt his elbow in my face and two metres

42:57Jamie Redknapp:so his arm has to be really high. I don't want to fall down but I think maybe in this situation... I don't know, I just said it to the referee I felt something in my face and I think it's not right to feel something in your face. But I'm not the type of player who will fall down for this. But it's hard because I guess sometimes maybe you have to do it,

43:18Les Ferdinand:but this is not my type of football and I don't like it. But yeah, he said sorry after. So I think he knew that he hit me in my face.

43:26Kelly Cates:And yeah, I don't know. I don't know why I didn't solve the situation, to be honest. But for obvious reasons, you weren't happy because we showed the replay and you didn't want to shake his hand when he offered it. Yeah, because I don't like this.

43:38Jamie Redknapp:Like, if you do some things in game, and then just 30 seconds after you say sorry, that's not a part of the game. So, yeah, I don't like it. We had really good situations, and I like this situation where we can get a good battle, but it always has to be fair, and his elbow should be not in my face.

43:56Les Ferdinand:Thank you.

43:57Jamie Redknapp:Thank you.

43:58Les Ferdinand:Doesn't want to make too much of a big deal of it, but as he said, he just didn't like it. What do you think?

44:05Kelly Cates:The question I would ask, If he had gone down, he said, I don't want to go down. But had he gone down, they would have reviewed it. And if they would have reviewed it, I want to know what the outcome would have been.

44:15Les Ferdinand:What do you think the outcome would have been?

44:17Kelly Cates:Well, he smashed him straight in his face. Look. It's a liberty, isn't it? Whatever way you look at it, he's really lucky. And if he goes down, if he goes down holding his face, they review it. This is a better angle. Look. There you go. and I think, you know, any blow to the face is a sending off. So I'm saying if he falls on the ground and then they go, because they'll have to go to VAR if he goes down on the ground. And I like what he said. I don't want to go down for things like that. But then all of a sudden, Gabriel stays on the pitch.

44:47Les Ferdinand:It sort of got lost in the sort of aftermath of the goal and in, you know, subsequent moments in the game. But that is potentially a really significant moment.

44:56Jamie Redknapp:And the thing is as well, you've got to take into account that Gabriel right now, after that, his head is in a bit of a tumble dryer. He's made the mistake for the goal. He's fuming and he's obviously had a bit of a problem with him. So he's leaving a bit on him. You can't do that. But this is a consequence of this silly kick-off that everyone does now. It does my head in. You pass it back to the goalkeeper. It's like American football. He's had to run past three players. Look, they're all smashing him. Why don't you just pass it back and start playing? And then one team does it and how do they all do it?

45:26Jamie Redknapp:It's ridiculous. But people are going to get... I see it I see it at grassroots, I see it playing now. That should be a foul. And if it's not... It could be a sending off. It's ridiculous. But everyone's copying each other. They're all doing the same things. And it just causes a massive melee every single time. I don't get it. Like, you see Zubamendi trying to do it. Then he's running past him. It's like Bulldogs when you were a kid. It's not everyone doing it. Everyone just copies everyone. At least make up your own thing. You know what I mean? Have your own ideas.

45:53Les Ferdinand:And then Gabriel gets the winner. Is that going to sting?

45:56Kelly Cates:I'm sure it will. Well I think Eddie said he's not seen any of the incidents, so when he goes back in and he sees that, Valdemar will be disappointed that he didn't go down because as you said, Gabriel scores the winner. And had he gone down, and I don't like seeing players do it, I don't like seeing players frame injury.

46:14Jamie Redknapp:But Les, we see players go down for a lot less than that.

46:15Kelly Cates:That's what I'm saying to you, I don't like seeing it, but that's a genuine someone hitting you in the face.

46:21Jamie Redknapp:Kelly, we're not going off air yet, happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, Kelly. Everybody, Kelly.

46:27Les Ferdinand:Thank you, Jamie.

46:28Jamie Redknapp:I didn't embarrass you, but I thought, you know, it's your coming on your birthday. But you did anyway, yeah.

46:33Les Ferdinand:Wait till everybody's switched off. They can see the end of the show. We'll say happy birthday. Yeah, 21 if anyone's asking. Arsenal then taking all three points against Newcastle. Bye-bye.

46:47Jamie Redknapp:Thanks for listening to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Don't forget to hit follow so you don't miss an episode.