Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle: Jamaal Lascelles has an evening to forget on his return – 5 things we learned

Newcastle United's no-win record in 2019 was extended in a fourth month after the Magpies' 2-0 loss to Arsenal at Emirates.

Rafa Benitez's men rarely threatened during the 90 minutes and were led by a shot by Aaron Ramsey in the middle of the first period.

Alexandre Lacazette doubled the home advantage 7 minutes from time, but Arsenal spoiled a succession of opportunities – and the score should have been even more favorable for the Gunners.

Magpies captain Jamaal Lascelles had a tough night with the captain partly responsible for both goals, United conceded, while Miguel Almiron, Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez failed to trigger the goal. ;attack.

Here, NUFC writer Chris Waugh introduces us to what we learned from the UAE …

Diame can split the opinion but is getting closer to a new contract with United

He shares the opinion among Newcastle fans, but Mo Diame has only two attempts to automatically trigger a one-year contract extension.

The 31-year contract expires at the end of the season and, although the club is willing to offer him another 12 months, he wants a new two-year contract.

There had been suggestions that Diame would prefer to leave a free contract this summer if the club did not give him that two-year contract, but he is now about to exercise the clause in his current contract.

It is thought that 25 Premier League debuts should be enough to trigger this option – and as Diame has been selected for each of the previous two matches, he now has 23 for the season.

Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung-yueng both had to settle for a spot on the bench against Arsenal and Isaac Hayden – against his former club – again partnering Diame in the engine room.

With the ball, Diame can be frustrating and ineffective – but out of his possession, he harbades the opposition and is only a general nuisance.

In the Emirates, that's exactly what he did: Diame and Hayden worked tirelessly in the engine room to try to disrupt Arsenal.

However, they failed to catch up with Ramsey and Ozil, who found themselves regularly in space and were pretty much playing for the Gunners.

It would be amazing to see Diame and Hayden play Saturday against the Crystal Palace at home, but in the matches against the top six, Benitez likes to have more physics in the middle of the field – and that is precisely why the Senegalese might see his contract with the Magpies extended soon enough.

Almiron does not see the red – but he does not trigger the NUFC attack, either

Although Benitez never seriously considered returning Almiron from Newcastle as of the 11th, the Magpies official admitted that he had to watch his playmaker and watch him closely as he trained after a controversial international break. .

The 25-year-old suffered two deflated defeats while he was playing for Paraguay. He was also ruled out of a terrible challenge, for which he was criticized in his native country.

Since returning to Tyneside on Friday, Almiron has returned to the atmosphere – and Benitez said the striker had put the international breakthrough in his mind.

The "Three Amigos", as they are affectionately nicknamed, started in front of Newcastle, with Almiron on the left and Perez on the right, right next to the lone striker Rondon.

Attempting to use Almiron's pace at the break would still be part of the Emirates 'Newcastle game plan – but in the first half, the Magpies' lack of accuracy over possession of the ball was ended in failure.

The first three teams at United worked tirelessly for the first 45 minutes but, aside from a keen effort by Rondon, they rarely threatened Bernd Leno's goal.

Frustrated, the Magpies were even more aggressive after the break – having failed to score a goal, Almiron failing to unleash the Newcastle attack as he had done in previous parries.

A free kick for Newcastle – but United misses the chance to capitalize

When Southampton, Burnley and Crystal Palace all won on Saturday, the battle for relegation in the Premier League seemed to recover once again – but Sunday's results were less favorable to the Pies.

While Cardiff City succumbed to a controversial late defeat against Chelsea the day before, the pressure on Newcastle began a bit early on in the attack. It was a match that they could tackle with some freedom.

The Magpies found themselves seven points ahead of the drop zone – though it's actually eight, as their goal difference of -11 is 20 times healthier than that of the Bluebirds, who rank at 18th rank – and that it's realistic to win only one win.

The city of Huddersfield is already relegated mathematically, while Fulham could be downgraded next week with the Terriers. Cardiff now has five points behind safety.

Following the defeat of Cardiff, Newcastle should have been able to approach this match with additional freedom.

And to some extent they did it; but the problem was that United simply could not launch its offensive game – and although they were ambitious, their game error prevented visitors from creating many chances of success.

Fortunately, it was a game Newcastle did not expect, so a defeat is not too damaging – and now their goal should be to win the victory they need against Palace this weekend.

Lascelles struggles for his return

The only change brought by the Benitez team to the 2-2 draw against AFC Bournemouth was to bring back Captain Lascelles in Federico Fernandez's team.

Argentina had struggled on the south coast – and Lascelles himself had made it north of London.

Arsenal allowed United's defender to have the ball, while they harbaded and rushed Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett, as they acknowledged that Lascelles was just not in the game. comfortable in possession of the ball.

He regularly pbaded the ball out of the game or pressured his team by conceding possession of the ball.

Lascelles was also partly responsible for Arsenal's goal: to put Lacazette in a weak challenge when preparing the first and to pbad too easily by the French for the second.

It lacked perhaps a bit of sharpness, but Lascelles will be disappointed with his own display and will aim to rebound with a better performance this weekend.

Newcastle just can not win on the road in 2019

It's odd to see how the shape of the magpies on the road has left them – and they simply can not win away from home in 2019.

There are now seven straight games for which United did not win the Premier League. Newcastle had only three points out of a possible 27 during that period.

At home, they have won five in a row and have a completely different appearance than the one going away, especially in London, where their record is appalling.

There are now 18 defeats in their last 24 games in the capital and they have lost 12 of their last 13 games to Arsenal outside.

If Newcastle is to ensure its survival soon enough, you feel that it is necessary to do it under Tyneside because its form on the outside is appalling for the moment.