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Super Arsenal Annihilate Newcastle To Keep Title Pressure On Liverpool, Man City

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Arsenal’s free-scoring Premier League form continued as Newcastle were blown away 4-1 at the Emirates on Saturday to move back within two points of leaders Liverpool.

Mikel Arteta’s men stumbled to a 1-0 Champions League defeat at Porto in midweek, but were quickly back on the horse domestically to take their tally to 25 goals in six consecutive Premier League wins.

Arsenal’s prowess from set-pieces forced an own goal from Sven Botman before Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior from another corner killed off Newcastle.

The Gunners are aiming to win a first league title in 20 years and keen to make amends for faltering down the final straight last season as Manchester City stormed clear on their way to win the treble.

Arsenal are the side in red hot form but remain in third, one point behind second-placed City, with the title race fascinatingly poised 12 games from the end of the season.

Defeat is another blow to Newcastle’s aspiration of European football next season.

Eddie Howe’s men were outclassed to remain down in eighth, 15 points adrift of the top four, and have now conceded 23 goals in their last eight league games.

Howe was forced into handing goalkeeper Loris Karius just his second appearance since joining Newcastle in 2022.

Karius was unfortunate for the opening goal as he parried Gabriel Magalhaes’ powerful header, but the ball ricocheted back off Botman and crept over the line.

Arsenal have now scored 19 times from set-pieces in the Premier League this season.

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If there was a hint of fortune about the opener, the hosts’ second was a thing of beauty.

Jorginho’s ball over the top picked out the run of Gabriel Martinelli, who turned the ball perfectly into the path of Havertz for his eighth goal of the season.

Saka has now scored seven times in the last five Premier League games and only a fine save from Karius at his near post delayed the England international continuing his scoring streak before half-time.

Havertz should have sealed the three points within two minutes of the second half when he dragged a shot wide after Martinelli’s pass played him clean through on goal.

But the German international was involved for the third goal as from his pass, Saka jinked inside and fired into the far corner for his 16th goal of the season.

Set-piece coach Nicolas Jover has been credited with Arsenal’s lethal threat from dead balls.

The Frenchman had more cause to celebrate 21 minutes from time when Kiwior’s header from Declan Rice’s corner deflected in off Lewis Miley.

Newcastle did at least muster a consolation five minutes from time when former Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock looped in a header off the post.

But that did little to spoil Arsenal’s Saturday night party as they made another statement to Liverpool and City that they will not crumble under the pressure of a title race like they did 12 months ago.

AFP

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It’s PSG, Inter Milan Final as Arsenal Suffer Another Paris Heartbreak

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Arsenal’s bid to win the Champions League for the first time is over after they suffered a 2-1 second-leg defeat to Paris St Germain at the Parc des Princes.

Mikel Arteta’s players were already one goal down in the semi-final first leg, and, despite a strong start, they were two behind in the tie when Fabian Ruiz struck for PSG after 27 minutes.

Vitinha missed a penalty – after Myles Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have handled the ball following a contentious VAR review – before Achraf Hakimi put the match out of sight in the 72nd minute.

But it is PSG, who have now beaten three Premier League sides in a row, with Arsenal following Liverpool and Aston Villa in succumbing to the French champions, that will play Inter Milan in the final on May 31 after a 3-1 aggregate success.

Arsenal’s sole appearance in a Champions League final came here in Paris in 2006 where they suffered a late defeat to Barcelona, and the French capital was the scene of yet more heartbreak for the north Londoners.

RESULTS

UCL

PSG 2-1 Arsenal

(PSG 3-1 agg.)

U20 AFCON

Nigeria 2-2 Kenya

(F’Eagles for Q’finals)

Tunisia 1-3 Morocco

(Morocco for Q’finals)

Europa League

Man Utd v Bilbao

Bodo/Glimt v Tottenham

Europa Conference

Chelsea v Djurgarden

Fiorentina v Betis

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Nothing can stop us from getting into Champions League final – Arsenal

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Arsenal’s Declan Rice insisted Tuesday the Gunners are confident they can “deliver something special” by overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit when they face Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital in the return match of their Champions League semi-final tie.

“We’re here to win the game. We’re here to make a statement. We want to get to the final. So we need to be ready to go and do that,” Rice told reporters at the Parc des Princes on the eve of Wednesday’s showdown.

“We need to have big balls and we need to go out there on the biggest stage and show that we’re ready to play at this level.

“It’s going to be the biggest night in this club’s history if we can get to the final. So we’re fully ready to go.”

PSG hold the advantage coming into Wednesday’s match after Ousmane Dembele’s early goal gave them a narrow victory at the Emirates Stadium a week ago.

However, both Rice and Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta said they believed they could get the better of a side who have eliminated Premier League opposition in each of the last two rounds, knocking out Liverpool in the last 16 and Aston Villa in the quarter-finals.

“I think you need to have full belief,” Rice said.

“We certainly have that as a group. I think if we are the best versions of ourselves tomorrow night -– and we know we can be that –- there is no stopping us getting into that final.”

The England star said Arsenal could lean on the experience of facing reigning European champions Real Madrid in Spain in the last round, when Arteta’s team won 2-1 to progress 5-1 on aggregate.

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“When we went to the Bernabeu the other week there were a lot of questions about whether we could rise to that occasion,” said Rice, who scored two wonderful free-kicks in the first leg of that tie.

“We obviously had a 3-0 lead but there was still so much talk about them coming back and playing at the Bernabeu and we had not experienced that before.

“But I think as a group we handled that amazingly well. We have proved that we can handle big situations and tomorrow night is another massive step for this team.”

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U-20 AFCON: Nigeria battle Morocco to goalless draw

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The Flying Eagles of Nigeria were held to a goalless draw by Morocco in their second Group B match in the ongoing U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tightly contested clash took place on Sunday at the June 30 Air Defence Stadium in Cairo.

Clear-cut chances were few in the cagey affair.

The Flying Eagles controlled proceedings in the first half but managed only one shot on target.

Morocco dominated possession in the second half but failed to pose any serious threat to Nigeria’s goalkeeper Ebenezer Harcourt.

With the result, Morocco remain at the top of the group on goal difference, having accrued the same number of points as Nigeria (four).

Tunisia, who earlier defeated Kenya 3-1 in the group’s other fixture, are in third place with three points.

The Flying Eagles will face Kenya in their final Group B match on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

NAN reports that the top four teams from the tournament will qualify to represent Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile, scheduled to take place from Sept. 27 to Oct. 19. (NAN)

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