a threaded through ball v. Newcastle, 2019. : Gunners

Something interesting about this pass is that the blond-haired bloke on Newcastle’s defense actually seems to realize Özil’s intentions before the ball is played. What’s so impressive, then, is that the poor guy still can’t stop it. When the ball is played, it appears that he, being significantly closer to the ball than Auba, will have an easy time of clearing it. But then, suddenly, the ball starts to curl. It lazily swoops around the feet of the backpedaling defender and right into Aubameyang’s stride. C’est une putain de bonne passe, as the French say.

Fun facts:

• Spirits were high after this game. We’d jumped to two points above Tottenham with 7 games to play and had won 10 home games in a row. What’s more, we bossed this game; the final score was 2-0, and we held 71% possession while resting Aubameyang for 70 minutes. I’d say that’s pretty good. Of course, it all turned out to be pride before the fall.

• Despite our dominance in possession, there was only a combined total of 10 shots from both sides, the fewest in a Premier League game since the nine efforts in the Bournemouth versus Leicester match in August 2015.

• No other side has beaten Newcastle more than Arsenal in the Premier Leage (30 times!).