Newcastle were pitiful against Arsenal last weekend.
Steve Bruce’s side had a golden opportunity to move one step closer to survival.
They had been playing well, and were set to face an out-of-form Arsenal side who were more concerned about the Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
Mikel Arteta’s side had a season-defining distraction on the horizon, while Newcastle still weren’t safe.
Yet Bruce’s side handed the advantage to Arsenal, and let them play the game on their terms.
The Gunners were totally dominant at St James’ Park. Newcastle had the odd flurry, but never looked capable of getting back into the game.
We’d made a very underwhelming Arsenal side look like the invincibles.
Four days later, and Newcastle’s woeful efforts on Sunday looked all the more embarrassing.
Arsenal needed to beat Villarreal to progress to the Europa League final, where they would get the chance to play for a place in next season’s Champions League.
It was a season-defining 90 minutes for Arteta. A win would save his bacon, while a loss would pile on the pressure.
In the end, a limp Arsenal side failed to find the net, meaning they crashed out of the Europa League.
The Gunners were really poor on the night, which is all the more disappointing considering it was their biggest game of the season.
Their woeful performance makes last weekend’s result all the more frustrating for Toon fans, who can’t believe how good we made them look.
As one fan said on Twitter, it ‘just summed up how bad we were’.
Arsenal flop after we make them look like ‘champions’
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