Newcastle United secured a controversial 1-0 victory over Arsenal at St James' Park, with Anthony Gordon's second-half goal surviving three VAR checks to hand the Gunners their first Premier League defeat of the season.
The goal came after Joe Willock, a substitute, kept the ball in play on the byline before crossing for Joelinton, who challenged Gabriel Magalhães. The loose ball fell to Gordon, who scored from close range. VAR reviewed whether the ball had gone out of play, whether Joelinton fouled Gabriel, and whether Gordon was offside, but all three checks were cleared.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was incensed, calling the decision "an absolute disgrace" and questioning "how the hell" the goal was allowed to stand. However, his complaints could not mask Arsenal's lack of creativity, as they dominated possession but failed to create clear chances, partly due to Newcastle's disciplined off-the-ball work.
The match was spiky and ill-tempered, with Kai Havertz and Bruno Guimarães both fortunate to avoid red cards. Havertz's high challenge on Sean Longstaff drew only a yellow, while Guimarães appeared to elbow Jorginho but escaped punishment after a VAR review.
Newcastle, missing several key players including Sandro Tonali and Alexander Isak, showed resilience to claim a statement win. Fabian Schär impressed at centre-back, and Tino Livramento performed well after replacing Dan Burn at half-time. The victory lifted Newcastle to sixth in the table.
