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Last season, Unai Emery's first game in charge ended with a defeat to Manchester City. This time around, Emery has started on a positive note, as Arsenal collected all three points away from home.
Starting the match without Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos, Arsenal were dominant in the first-half but could not find the breakthrough. In the first half, Henrikh Mkhitaryan came closest to scoring but his shot was hit well above the crossbar.
The deadlock was broken after Ainsley Maitland-Niles delivered a perfect cross to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 58th minute. The striker made no mistake from close range and netted Arsenal's first goal of the season. Newcastle United were unable to find the equaliser and Aubameyang's goal sealed the result for the North London club.
Here are three reasons why Arsenal managed to win the game.
#3 Astute performances from Arsenal's centre-backs
To the surprise of fans, Calum Chambers and Sokratis put up a pretty convincing performance at the heart of the defence. The duo helped to keep a clean sheet for the team and appeared largely untroubled at the back.
Last season, Arsenal's defenders struggled to keep clean sheets and conceded a total 51 goals in the Premier League. Shkodran Mustafi was often accused of being the culprit amid the huge concession of goals, and in this match, he was excluded from the squad. With Chambers filling in his shoes, the Englishman stayed confident throughout the game and looked convincing in his role.
The two centre-backs hardly put a foot wrong and kept Newcastle's front-line quiet even as pressure piled on them. The Magpies tested Arsenal's defence on a couple of occasions, but all four defenders remained disciplined, and did not commit any mistakes in the box.
In the full 90 minutes of the match, Chambers made three clearances and one block while Sokratis helped out with five clearances. Keeping a clean sheet away from home will definitely serve as a great boost in confidence for Emery's side, who often looked so vulnerable at the back last season.
#2 Reliability of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Arsenal's goalscorer
Aubameyang picked up from where he left off last season as the Premier League's Golden Boot winner, and continued his scoring routine. The Gabonese did not have plenty of chances during the match but when the opportunity arrived, he made the best out of it and scored the vital goal for his side.
Throughout last season, Aubameyang and Lacazette formed a formidable partnership. The Frenchman was on the bench today but even without him, Aubameyang still managed to find the net thanks to a great cross from Maitland-Niles.
The 30-year-old scored a total of 22 goals in the 2018/19 Premier League campaign and he has wasted no time in chasing the award once again.
#1 Impressive displays from Arsenal's academy products
Emery chose to start Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson ahead of other first-team stars and this decision proved to be a wise choice. Over the last couple of weeks, the two youngsters had been actively involved in Arsenal's pre-season training, and in this game, they looked sharp.
Willock, in particular, was impressive in Arsenal's midfield. The 19-year-old ran after every loose ball and eagerly pushed forward whenever possession was in his team's favour. Meanwhile, for Nelson, the youngster enjoyed a passing accuracy of 86.4% and contributed two key passes. His finishing in the final third might still be somewhat below expectations, but at least he tried to create something to the best of his abilities.
As the campaign progresses, Emery is expected to hand more game time to the duo. These two youngsters have the chance to convince their manager that they can be the future stars of the club and they ought to make good use of their chances. In all, Nelson and Willock helped put up a strong performance for the Gunners and gave the Magpies sufficient work to do in their own half.
