Saturday March 21, 2015 – 3.00 PM BST
We looked to be cruising to victory after a first half brace from Olivier Giroud, but complacency in the second period allowed Newcastle right back into the game.
Here are the player ratings for our 2-1 win over Newcastle United:
Despite a dominant second half from Newcastle, the Colombian didn’t have too much to do. He could have done better with a couple of crosses, but made an unbelievable reaction save with his foot after a nasty deflection.
Decent going forward, but yet again somewhat suspect defensively. He was beaten far too easily, and was occasionally caught out of position.
We may not have got all three points if it weren’t for the Frenchman, who looked dominant in defence and was alert to the danger Newcastle posed.
A couple of shaky moments, but was largely impressive on just his second Premier League start.
The left-back has been excellent this season, but he really struggled in the second half, and was run ragged by Remy Cabella.
He go through a lot of good break up play, but was sloppy in possession.
The Welshman worked incredibly hard, but wasn’t as dynamic as he has been recently.
He was occasionally poor in possession, and poor decision making prevented Giroud from getting his hat-trick.
The Spaniard was really poor today, and conceded possession far too easily far too often.
His pace was hugely important, and he provided the assist for the first goal. He looked a threat going forward, but his finishing, final ball, and decision making were once again lacking.
Still not looking his sharpest, but you can never fault his effort. Pulled off a couple of fantastic bits of skill, and was unlucky not to get an assist or two.
Leading from the front, with two goals in quick succession giving us a comfortable lead going into half time.
A very negative and defensive substitution, and having him deployed alongside Coquelin didn’t actually do a huge amount to keep Newcastle at bay.
Possibly should have replaced Cazorla sooner (or even started ahead of him), was aggressive and added some much needed energy.
Didn’t have a huge amount of time to make an impact. He had a great chance to give Giroud a tap in for his hat-trick, but the pass wasn’t perfect and some good keeping from Tim Krul prevented us putting the game to bed.
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