Midway through the afternoon Unai Emery was quite possibly bracing himself for the sort of uncomfortable post-match scrutiny with which Arsène Wenger eventually became so wearily familiar. Emery’s Arsenal ended the first half seemingly barely able to string two passes together and apparently struggling to grasp their new instructions to advance with intricacy right from the very back. At that point Newcastle United were pressing their guests into increasingly flustered submission and Rafael Benítez was clearly winning his battle of wits with Wenger’s successor. Benítez’s tactical plan was spot on but he lacked a striker sufficiently predatory to polish off Matt Ritchie’s stellar...
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