Arsenal got what they absolutely deserved the hard way at Newcastle

Arsenal are two points behind leaders Liverpool after a devilishly difficult and completely deserved victory away to Newcastle.

It really couldn't have been any harder, because Arsenal missed chances in the first half, VAR overturned a penalty that would cause great controversy, and then they were in the red...

Nothing stopped the Gunners, who only crowned their better performance at St. James' Park in the last 15 minutes - first Mikel Merino equalized, Gabriel Magalhaes would seal the victory in the 96th minute after a corner kick..

The London team dominated the first half, but Nick Pope worked wonders in the Magpies' goal.

He masterfully stopped Eberechi Eze twice, Leandro Trosar hit the post, while Viktor Djekeres had a penalty first awarded and then overturned.

The Swede took the ball after a mistake by Jacob Murphy and passed Pope, who apparently tripped him.

It seemed like there was no doubt that Arsenal would be awarded a penalty kick, but the VAR room issued a warning to the referee..

The final decision was that Pope had fouled an opposing striker before he had contact with the ball...

All of this seemed to disrupt the visitors, who then conceded a goal when Nick Voltemade checked David Raja and announced an even bigger fight in the north of England..

Newcastle played behind the ball for almost 55 minutes, and Arsenal did everything they could to break through the defense - they had a shot over Jurjen Timber (again brilliantly saved by Pope), and then dangerous attempts by Džekerš on two occasions, Trosár...

It is Merino. in the 84th minute he headed the ball into the goalpost, then the home team asked for a penalty due to Gabriel's handball, and Arsenal are in injury time welcomed the 12th corner kick that led him to a big celebration - Martin Odegaard crossed, William Saliba blocked Pope, and Gabriel slammed the ball into the net.