Newcastle United came out on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller against Arsenal at the Singapore National Stadium.
The Gunners won 3-2 in an all-Premier League clash. Anthony Elanga, on his full debut, opened the scoring before a Mikel Merino and an own goal by Alex Murphy put Mikel Arteta’s side 2-1 up at half-time.
Jacob Murphy levelled in the opening stages of the second-half but a Martin Odegaard penalty in the 85th minute handed Arsenal the win.
Elanga made his first start since joining from Nottingham Forest and went on to open the scoring in the sixth minute.
A good move by the Magpies involving Anthony Gordon, Will Osula, Kieran Trippier and Sandro Tonali saw Elanga scuff home the Italian’s low cross.
Two goals in two minutes then saw Arsenal flip the game on its head. Mikel Merino found room on the edge of the box to fire low past Nick Pope before a cross by Kai Havertz was turned into his own next by Alex Murphy.
Newcastle made nine changes at the break, with only Nick Pope and Will Osula staying on. And within 12 minutes, United were level when Jacob Murphy’s shot found its way through a host of bodies to fly into the bottom corner.
The game was evenly matched but the Gunners managed to find a winner five minutes from time. Joelinton conceded a penalty for a foul on Max Dowman and Martin Odegaard stepped up to slot the spot-kick past John Ruddy.
Here are our Newcastle United player ratings:
1. GettyImages-2227219383
Getty Images
2. Nick Pope - 6
Put his teammates under pressure with a couple of aimless passes. Kept busy in the second-half before being withdrawn in the 73rd minute. | Getty Images
3. Kieran Trippier - 7
Good going forward after being involved in the opener and later found Will Osula in behind. Largely solid defensively bar a nervy few minutes around Arsenal’s two goals. | Getty Images
4. Jamaal Lascelles - 6
Dominant in the air but caught ball watching as Kai Havertz found Mikel Merino for the opener. His first start since March 2024. | AFP via Getty Images