Arsenal maintained their chase of the top two with a sixth consecutive Premier League victory as they impressively dispatched Newcastle United 4-1.

Having seen title rivals Liverpool beat Luton Town in midweek and Manchester City edge a 1-0 win at AFC Bournemouth earlier in the day, Arsenal were under pressure to respond but they were outstanding from the first minute to last as they move two points off the top.

Their margin of victory also means they have the best goal difference in the league and have only scored one fewer goal than Liverpool.

How the match unfolded

Arsenal made one change from their 5-0 win at Burnley, with Jorginho coming in for Leandro Trossard while Gabriel Jesus was back on the bench from injury.

There were three changes for Newcastle. Dan Burn and Harvey Barnes dropped to the bench for Tino Livramento and Alexander Isak, while goalkeeper Martin Dubravka missed out with illness, meaning Loris Karius made his Premier League debut for the club.

After a disappointing defeat to Porto in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, Arsenal produced a blistering start, scoring twice inside the opening 24 minutes.

On 18 minutes Gabriel’s header from a corner was saved well by Karius, but Livramento kicked the loose ball against Botman and it crossed the line before Karius was able to palm it away.

It was Arsenal’s 18th set-piece goal of the season, three more than any other team, with 12 of them coming from a corner, also league-leading.

Six minutes later Havertz scored for a second successive league match when he swept in Gabriel Martinelli’s low cross.

Arsenal were outstanding in the first half, suffocating Newcastle, who had only one touch in the Arsenal box and failed to register a shot in the opening 45 minutes for the first time since March 2014 against Southampton.

Havertz had a glorious opportunity to grab his second inside the opening 90 seconds of the second half when a flowing move put him through on goal but he somehow screwed his shot wide. 

Newcastle were showing more threat and Isak had their best chance so far when put in on goal at an angle but David Raya did well to slow him down and Arsenal cleared. Anthony Gordon registered their first shot in the 49th minute, but it was straight at Raya. 

The Swede then shot over after initially showing quick feet to fashion an opportunity.

But shortly after Eddie Howe had made two substitutions in an effort to find a goal back, Newcastle conceded a third. 

Bukayo Saka received the ball on the right edge of the area, cut in and then stepped back before curling the ball into the far corner.

It was the fifth consecutive Premier League match Saka has scored in, becoming the first Arsenal player to do so since Olivier Giroud had a run of six in 2015, and the club’s first English player to achieve this feat since Ian Wright in 1994. 

Four minutes later it was 4-0 as Declan Rice’s inswinging corner was flicked in by Jakub Kiwior with a deflection off Lewis Miley. 

Newcastle claimed a consolation goal as substitute Dan Burn marauded down the left and crossed for fellow sub Joe Willock to score a superb header against his former club.

It was Newcastle’s first goal at Emirates Stadium since December 2014 and the first Arsenal have conceded after scoring 17 unanswered goals. 

Burn then denied Emile Smith Rowe a goal in stoppage time, clearing the Arsenal substitute’s shot off the line. 

Newcastle remain eighth with 37 points but have won only 11 points from their last 12 matches.

Club reports

Arsenal report | Newcastle report

Match officials

Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Neil Davies, Nick Hopton. Fourth official: Anthony Taylor. VAR: Peter Bankes. Assistant VAR: Lee Betts.