Arsenal edged past Newcastle United in the final home game of the 2024/25 season.
Declan Rice showed why he’s a Player of the Season candidate, scoring past Nick Pope to give Arsenal the win over Newcastle.
While the midfielder was Arteta’s match-winner, he was denied the man of the match award that was rightfully claimed by David Raya.
Eddie Howe applauded Raya’s performance against his side as the Spaniard managed to keep a clean sheet after a torturous first half for the hosts.
Martin Keown praises Mikel Arteta’s vs Newcastle
Arteta sent a clear message to the Arsenal squad before facing Newcastle, calling for his players to take their three defeats to the Magpies this season personally.
The manager’s words were clearly impactful, just as they were the week before, as Arteta’s half-time team talk at Anfield made all the difference.
Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool saw the light shine on Arteta’s ability to get his players to turn a dire first half around, which is exactly what happened against Newcastle.
As a result, Martin Keown opted to single out the Arsenal manager for praise, labelling the boss as the ‘driving force’ behind the Gunners’ win.
“I think Mikel Arteta, who is the driving force, deserves a lot of credit because that would’ve been a big team talk,” the Arsenal legend said on BBC Match of the Day 2.
“2-0 down at Anfield last week, and could’ve been, or should’ve been, 2-0 down in this game. I thought Newcastle started incredibly well. But they matched their intensity at the start of the second half.”
Keown insisted that Arteta made the biggest impact against the Magpies, applauding the Spaniard’s ability to turn things around with a 15-minute team talk.
Remarkable statistic proves Arteta’s team talk paid off
The Arsenal icon was eager to direct praise on Arteta, and for good reason.
Arsenal were noticeably recharged after the interval, not only seen through Rice’s goal.
| First half | Statistic | Second half |
| 1.46 | Expected goals (xG) | 0.40 |
| 2 | Big chances | 1 |
| 10 | Total shots | 4 |
| 5 | Shots on target | 0 |
While the Magpies dominated the opening moments of the game, the tables quickly turned, as seen by the number of shots the Gunners allowed the visitors to have later in the game.
Newcastle had five shots on target in the opening 17 minutes of the contest, but after that flurry, Howe’s side didn’t record another one for the remainder of the game.
Arteta demanded that Arsenal cracked down on Newcastle’s threat to avoid conceding, which happened and ultimately won the Gunners the game.
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