Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang punished slack Newcastle defending to give Arsenal victory at a rain-drenched St James’ Park.
Starting with many of their £125m-worth of signings on the bench and without midfielders Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac, Gunners boss Unai Emery watched his side struggle to cut through their opponents in the first half.
That all changed just before the hour mark when Aubameyang was left unmarked on the edge of the area, collected Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross from the right and fired past Martin Dubravka.
Emery gave £72m club-record signing Nicolas Pepe and midfielder Dani Ceballos debuts from the bench, but they failed to make much of an impression.
As for Steve Bruce, his Newcastle managerial debut was about what could have been.
The Magpies’ record signing Joelinton went close with a shot blocked by Bernd Leno, before Jonjo Shelvey saw his drive crash off the woodwork.
The home side were flat for much of the second half, although another new recruit, the exciting wing prospect Allan Saint-Maximin, tested German Leno with a near-post drive.
Aubameyang makes the difference
Unai Emery went through a range of emotions in his dugout area during the first period, ranging from anguish to anger.
His somewhat makeshift Arsenal starting XI, without the experienced Ozil and Kolasinac, struggled with both the conditions and the five-man Newcastle midfield.
They only opened up the Magpies’ defence twice in that opening period, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan firing wildly over before Aubameyang struck a firm drive at Dubravka.
Both sides had pacy frontmen, but only one was proven at this level. And when Aubameyang, who scored 22 Premier League goals last season, was given a second chance at goal he took it brilliantly.
The Gabon international was inexplicably given a free run into the area as Jamaal Lascelles went AWOL, and slotted in Maitland-Niles’ delivery from the right.
Ivorian winger Pepe and Ceballos were given a run-out but made little impact, although had Maitland-Niles’ cross reached the record signing in the area late on, then we might have seen a goal on his debut.
No doubt we will see why Arsenal paid £72m to Lille for him in the coming weeks.
Positives in defeat for Newcastle
As a former centre-half himself, Bruce would have been disappointed to have seen skipper Lascelles drawn towards the ball which left Aubameyang free to score the decider.
Up until then his backline coped admirably with the pace of the Gunners – producing the type of disciplined display seen on countless occasions under the stewardship of predecessor Rafael Benitez.
At the other end Brazilian Joelinton had a lively debut, and roused the home crowd when he slalomed past two challenges to hammer in a low shot saved by Leno.
And Shelvey, who will be hoping to once again become a regular fixture in the Newcastle midfield, showed his prowess from distance with a vicious drive which shook the rain off the woodwork.
Joelinton and Miguel Almiron both worked tirelessly, but did not quite click up front as they partnered each other for the first time in a competitive fixture.
But it is worth noting that Ayoze Perez and Salomon Rondon took until the second half of last season to form a potent union, which eventually reaped 23 goals.
There was enough shown on the pitch on Sunday to suggest that there are better days to come for Joelinton and Almiron.
Man of the match – Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
Young Gunners – the stats
- Arsenal named two English teenagers (Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson) in their starting XI for a Premier League game for the first time since February 1998 (Paolo Vernazza and Matthew Upson v Crystal Palace), before either Willock or Nelson were born.
- The Gunners won and kept a clean sheet in their opening game of a Premier League season for the first time since 2008-09.
- Newcastle haven’t won their opening game in any of their last six Premier League campaigns.
- Newcastle manager Bruce suffered defeat in his first game at a new club for the first time since December 2001, when he began his Birmingham City reign with a 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the second tier.
- Arsenal have only lost one of their 25 Premier League games under Emery when opening the scoring.
- Since making his Premier League debut for Arsenal in February 2018, only Mohamed Salah (36) has scored more goals in the competition than Aubameyang (33).
- Pepe made his Premier League debut for Arsenal, becoming the 200th player to feature for the Gunners in the competition.
What’s next?
Newcastle are at newly-promoted Norwich City on Saturday (15:00 BST) while Arsenal take on Burnley at the Emirates on the same day in the early kick-off (12:30 BST).
