They've become known as the new set-piece kings of the Premier League. Move over Stoke City and Tony Pulis, it's Arsenal who are the deadball experts now.

Mikel Arteta's side, under the watchful eye of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, have garnered a reputation for their prowess at corners and free kicks. With strong, physical players, good movement, excellent delivery and a certain degree of cunning, Arsenal are now a huge threat every time the ball is whipped into the opposition box.

They scored twice against Manchester United in December to take their tally to 22 goals scored from corners since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. That's the highest not just in the Premier League, but across Europe's top five leagues too.

It's an impressive statistic and a huge weapon in their armoury. But it hasn't come without some controversy, with Arteta & Co being accused of everything from the 'dark arts' to outright 'cheating' - the latter by former Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness.

After scoring two goals against North London derby rivals Tottenham Hotspur last season from corners to win the game, Arsenal came under fire from Souness who questioned the legitimacy of defender Ben White's role in blocking the goalkeeper. It is a tactic that has infuriated a number of the Premier League's managers, goalkeepers and defenders - White or another 'blocker' such as Kai Havertz, plus a couple more Arsenal players, crowd around the shot-stopper on the line, meaning he can't get out to claim the ball.

“We are witnessing a stealthy, very deliberate, strategy from Arsenal - and Ben White in particular - to obstruct goalkeepers in a way which will avoid detection by the referees," blasted Souness. "Call me old-fashioned but what we're seeing here is cheating. This blocking by players from set-pieces is more prevalent than ever before, which presents a challenge for referees."

It was a tactic that Newcastle had to survive on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final. Arsenal were again a huge threat from corners - delivering 11 into the box during the game. Martin Dubravka and the United rearguard were put under severe pressure, and Julien Timber should have done better with a golden chance in the first half when he headed over, while numerous blocks and scrambles ensued as the Newcastle defenders threw their bodies on the line.

It was heroic defending at times, made even sweeter by a moment at the opposite end in the first half when Newcastle took advantage of their own bit of physical contact at a set play to open the scoring.

As Dubravka launched a long fee kick towards the edge of the Arsenal penalty area, Aleksander Isak - marked by Martin Odegaard - gave the Gunners captian a little shove to create some space. When the ball duly dropped at his feet after Jacob Murphy had knocked on Dan Burn's headed flick, Isak was in acres of space to score.

Cue a host of disgruntled Arsenal fans complaining about the 'push'. ITV Sport, broadcasting the game, highlighted the incident with a different camera view at both half-time and full-time as former Arsenal stars turned pundits Ian Wright and Lee Dixon waded in.

Isak was even asked whether he had 'got away with one' after the game, even though VAR had checked out the incident and said there was no issue.

"I wouldn't say I got away with it, that's part of the game, playing a little bit on the edge," he calmly responded, refusing to rise to the bait. "It was nothing."

Nothing that doesn't happen at a lot of Arsenal set-pieces, for sure. They know all about playing on the edge too. There is clearly no love lost between both Arsenal and Newcastle, with a number of incidents over the years threatening to bubble over, but both sides are perhaps not that different. Eddie Howe's 's--thouse Mags' can certainly hold their own against any team when it comes to the dark arts.

It was left to former Newcastle star Les Ferdinand to fight their corner on ITV. The legendary striker was full of compliments towards Isak, and didn't fail to remind Wright and presenter Mark Pougatch that Isak himself had been felled a few minutes earlier by Odegaard in an off-the-ball shirt tug as he raced towards a goalscoring opportunity.

"The early part of the game, when he runs in behind, I think they were expecting him to come to feet all the time," said Sir Les. "This is what makes him one of the best in Europe at the moment, willing to run in behind and stretch the defence. But then he starts to drop into areas and picking out passes for the rest of his teammates and that was the confusion he gave to the Arsenal defence.

"There was a tug on him by Odegaard (when Isak was running towards the box) that you guys just happened to miss. I was going to go and sit in the Geordie end for the second half, you guys were driving me nuts."