Arsenal sent out a warning message to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with a gritty 2-0 win over Champions League hopefuls Newcastle United at St James' Park.
Martin Odegaard's stunner and Fabian Schar's own goal settled a bad-tempered affair in the North-East, as Mikel Arteta's men broke the 80-point barrier and moved to within one of the reigning champions, confirming a top-two finish with a mature and defensively sound display.
With the raucous St James' Park crowd roaring them on, an aggressive and fired-up Newcastle were first to every second ball and won the majority of their duels during a relentless period of pressure.
The Magpies came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock with just 70 seconds gone, as Jacob Murphy struck the post from inside the area as red shirts backed off and allowed him time and space to get his shot away.
That would not be Arsenal's biggest reprieve of the first 10 minutes, as a well-worked Newcastle corner routine ended with Bruno Guimaraes's effort appearing to strike the arm of Jakub Kiwior, and Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot without hesitation.
However, upon a check of the monitor, Kavanagh quickly saw that the ball had struck Kiwior's thigh first, and the official overturned the hosts' spot kick, much to the anger of the riled-up home crowd.
Despite Newcastle's early dominance, Arsenal would take the lead against the run of play in sublime fashion, as Jorginho laid off to Odegaard to let fly from 25 yards, and the Gunners captain drilled a low effort into the bottom corner - almost a carbon copy of his strike at Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the year.
Galvanised by Odegaard's 15th Premier League goal of the season, Arsenal soon began to gain a foothold in the game, and Nick Pope had to be alert to deny Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli in quick succession in the 21st minute.
Bukayo Saka sent an effort straight into his compatriot's chest just three minutes later as Arsenal wasted another chance to extend their lead, but Newcastle remained as dangerous as ever in the final third, and Aaron Ramsdale made himself big to thwart Joe Willock from scoring against his former club in the 27th minute.
As tempers threatened to boil over during five minutes of added time, Arsenal once again passed up a gilt-edged chance to double their lead with the last act of the first half, as Odegaard created a yard of space inside the box but fired straight at Pope from eight yards out.
The Gunners could and maybe should have been punished for their catalogue of missed chances, but it was Newcastle's turn for profligacy inside the first five minutes of the second half, as Alexander Isak and Schar both missed close-range headers - the former struck the post while the latter was denied by an exceptional reaction save from Ramsdale.
Just one minute after Schar's inexplicable miss, Martinelli's shot clipped the crossbar as he tried to pick out the far corner, before Granit Xhaka made one of the tackles of the season to deny Willock a certain equaliser as the non-stop action continued.
Arteta's men continued to stand firm against waves of Newcastle pressure and took issue with several Magpies fouls that went without a card, namely Schar clattering into Gabriel Jesus right in front of the dugouts.
However, Gooners were soon delighted that Schar escaped punishment for that apparent elbow, as in the 71st minute, Martinelli got to the byline inside the box and fizzed a ball back into the six-yard area, where Schar could only stick a leg out and turn it into his own net.
Ramsdale was forced into a couple more stops in added time as Arsenal kept their fleeting title hopes alive, although Man City still boast a game in hand on the Gunners, while Newcastle could drop to fourth if Manchester United get the better of West Ham United later on tonight.
The Gunners have a week to rehabilitate before they host Brighton & Hove Albion next Sunday, while Eddie Howe's men travel to relegation-battling Leeds United on May 13. body check tags ::
