'Nasty' Newcastle display leaves Howe and Shearer in agreement as Arsenal stunned again

As Arsenal's attack came to nothing and Joelinton let out a huge roar towards the Leazes End to celebrate a Newcastle United goal-kick, you got the feeling it was going to be one of those special afternoons at St James' Park.

Eddie Howe has guided his team to plenty memorable wins on home soil against 'Big Six' opposition in recent seasons and often obtaining the three points requires a game with plenty of needle and crowd participation. There wasn't quite the feistiness of the iconic St James' Park showdown of November 2023 on Saturday but this was still a Newcastle side showing a ruthless side that has been lacking in recent months.

Joelinton's roar, elite level 'game-management', selfless defensive work without the ball, pressing, intensity, hunger, desire - and a 50,000-strong backing of home fans willing their side over the line. This Newcastle has been missing in action lately - certainly in home clashes against Brighton, Everton and Chelsea away - but when it does show, this side can beat anyone.

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Newcastle showed this particular version of themselves more often than not in the season they qualified for the Champions League back in 2022/23. That particular campaign brought St James' Park wins over Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and a 3-3 draw with Manchester City as the Magpies finished fifth in the 'home' table that year.

Howe, who has eased the pressure on himself with back-to-back wins last week, certainly sees the comparison between Saturday's win and the famous fourth-place finish campaign. "There's a lot of similarities here to our Champions League season and the qualification. I remember lots of games that took similar paths," he told reporters on Saturday afternoon.

Those thoughts were echoed by Alan Shearer shortly after, as the club icon expressed his delight at seeing the Newcastle of old return at St James' Park.

“It was more like when they were qualifying for the Champions League,” he told the Rest is Football podcast.

“Hard to play against. Great energy. A bit of nastiness. They were really good in their pressing. Made it really difficult for Arsenal. That was much more like it."

Newcastle must ensure last week does not show up as a blip in form come the end of the season as Howe waits to welcome the likes of West Ham United, Liverpool and Leicester City to Tyneside in the coming weeks.