Ally McCoist has praised Kai Havertz for scoring an ‘out of this world’ goal as Arsenal met Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday night at Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners enjoyed a totally dominant first half as the Toon visited north London. Arsenal spent most of the opening 45 minutes camped inside the Newcastle half of the pitch. A vast amount of their 64% share of the possession at the break even came in their attacking third.
Arsenal further managed 314 accurate passes during the first 45 minutes to Newcastle’s 158 for a staggering eight key balls. The Magpies returned to their dressing room having failed to create a single chance. While the Gunners also used their time with the ball to pen 11 shots.
Kai Havertz scored his seventh Arsenal goal for a 2-0 lead over Newcastle United
Yet Havertz only took one of Arsenal’s 11 first-half efforts against Newcastle to secure Mikel Arteta’s side a 2-0 lead. The 24-year-old flashed the ball under Toon goalkeeper Loris Karius in the 24th minute after brilliant work from Jorginho and Gabriel Martinelli to move the ball.
Newcastle gave Jorginho acres of space in the centre of the pitch to spot Martinelli making a driving run across the box. The Brazilian drifted over from his left-wing role to sneak beyond Sven Botman, who inadvertently handed Arsenal their lead on 18 minutes with an own goal.
Martinelli’s run took him away from Newcastle’s goal but the 22-year-old smartly cut a cross along the six-yard box. Kieran Trippier then being slow to react to Martinelli’s pass would let Havertz poke in front of the full-back and prod home the German’s seventh goal of the term.
Ally McCoist praises Kai Havertz for his ‘out of this world’ Premier League strike
Havertz’s strike to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead over Newcastle was his sixth goal over 25 Premier League appearances since joining from Chelsea in the summer. Saturday night’s match also marked his 18th start yet as Arteta favoured Havertz with Gabriel Jesus only on their bench.
While the 42-cap Germany attacking midfielder is by no means a natural striker, something that McCoist stressed straight after Havertz scored, the iconic Scotland centre-forward felt his and Martinelli’s connection combined to produce an ‘out of this world’ goal for Arsenal.
“That is a top-class goal,” McCoist stated on TNT Sports 1 (24/2, 20:23). “That goal is out of this world, it really is. A centre-forward finish from a guy I wouldn’t call a centre-forward, to be brutally honest! I think his movement’s great.”
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