Arsenal beats Newcastle 2-0 to stay in title hunt

Defeat would have left Arsenal’s hopes of a first title since 2004 hanging by a thread but Martin Odegaard’s brilliant strike and a Fabian Schar own goal sealed a vital victory.

Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard (left) celebrates scoring his team’s first goal with Bukayo Saka (right) during the 2-0 Premier League win over Newcastle United on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Arsenal showed no sign of raising the white flag in the Premier League title race with a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United on Sunday to close the gap on leader Manchester City to one point.

Defeat would have left Arsenal’s hopes of a first title since 2004 hanging by a thread but Martin Odegaard’s brilliant strike and a Fabian Schar own goal sealed a vital victory.

Newcastle, bidding to cement third place and take a big step towards a top-four finish, dominated early on but Odegaard’s sweet strike after 14 minutes gave the visitors the lead.

Schar then inadvertently turned in Gabriel Martinelli’s cross with 20 minutes remaining.

City, which has won 10 straight games to overhaul Arsenal, has 82 points from 34 games with the Gunners on 81 having played a game more. Newcastle stays third on 65 but Manchester United could overtake it later on Sunday if it wins at West Ham United.

More to follow...