Last night saw Newcastle United fans make the trip down from the Northeast to the capital and it was the same old story for the Magpies as they left London winless. In their last seven trips to London, the Magpies have managed just two points, although last night may have been different had Jamaal Lascelles turned up at any point.
84' – GOAL – Arsenal 2 (Alexandre Lacazette) Newcastle United 0 #NUFC
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) April 1, 2019
Despite Rafa Benitez being a coy tactician capable of masterminding the most unlikely of results, he can’t do anything if his players are making individual errors, and last night saw Lascelles do just that. The 25-year-old made his return to the starting lineup after missing the Bournemouth clash before the international break, and it certainly wasn’t a memorable performance from the skipper.
Whilst the ex-Nottingham Forest man could do little about the first goal from Aaron Ramsey, the part he played in the second goal was shocking. Arsenal’s strike partnership of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette linked up nicely, yet Lascelles was incredibly poor as he allowed Lacazette to breeze past him without any hint of a challenge before lobbing Martin Dubravka, and the Magpies were quick to let their captain know what they thought of him.
You can read the Geordies’ verdict on Lascelles here:
Shocking from lascelles
— Connor Thomson (@thomson_connor) 1 April 2019
Lascelles off the pace and far too slow just humps the ball forward for fun very very poor
— Andrew Robson (@andyr1989) April 1, 2019
https://twitter.com/JackBryan08/status/1112817240880107521
Dreadful defending once again by lascelles !!!!
— lisa leason (@connoranna) April 1, 2019
#lascelles chasing shadows.. again
— Adam (@adamcampbell941) April 1, 2019
Captain (not) fantastic sub par again
— Jon Illingworth (@JonIllingworth) April 1, 2019
some defending that lads!
— NotNathaniel (@nnoyingNathaN) 1 April 2019
The Magpies were far from happy with their skipper last night, and if he doesn’t improve against Crystal Palace on Saturday then the fans will be calling for him to be left out for their final run in.
