By Samuel A. Sept 28, 2025
Gabriel Magalhaes’ 96th-minute winner completed an inspiring comeback for Arsenal against Newcastle United in the Premier League match at Tyneside. The defender got his head on the end of Martin Odegaard’s corner to send manager Mikel Arteta and his staff wild on the touchline. Mikel Merino’s glancing header off the post had initially cancelled out Nick Woltemade’s Newcastle opener in a chaotic game.
The Gunners took all three points to close the gap on league leaders Liverpool to two points and leave Newcastle floored. Newcastle were on course for victory after the towering Woltemade easily rose above Gabriel to connect with Sandro Tonali’s in-swinger cross and power a header past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. Gabriel theatrically went down inside his own box after feeling contact, leading to Arsenal players surrounding referee Jarred Gillett, but the goal stood nonetheless.
The visitors were livid after having a penalty award overturned by VAR as Viktor Gyokeres was taken down by Newcastle keeper Nick Pope on the quarter-hour mark. Gillett pointed to the spot, but then changed his mind after consulting his pitchside monitor.
In an announcement to the stadium, Gillett ruled that Pope “played the ball and there was no foul”. Mikel Merino came on for abysmal Calafiori and rose to nod home from close range in the 84th minute to level, setting up a frantic finish. Arsenal pushed with everything they had and were ultimately rewarded deep in stoppage time when Martin Ødegaard’s corner found Gabriel, who rose highest to head the winner in the sixth minute of added time.
Arsenal’s late victory will feel like a statement of character for Mikel Arteta’s side, who move on with a precious away win after dominating long spells of the match but having to fight until the final whistle to secure the three points. Newcastle will take encouragement from a dogged defensive display. Arsenal now have four wins, one draw, and one loss in six Premier League games. They sit in the second position on the table, while Newcastle drop to 15th.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaking after the game said: “That’s how you get to a different level. Going through those tough moments and taking experiences from it. We discussed that in the game, and it’s a massive opportunity now to make a statement and to prove to everybody and ourselves the team that we are. And we certainly did with the performance and thankfully with the result as well at the end”.
“That was a statement? Well, for ourselves, yes, just to prove, because it’s a terrific team that’s so difficult to play against, and we already played at Old Trafford. We played at Anfield, we played Man City. We already played here very early in the season. And again, the level of consistency and quality we showed in the performance today was top”.
