Declan Rice walked into the tunnel, shaking his head and muttering to himself. Arsenal had just lost valuable ground in the Premier League title race, Mikel Arteta seemed incapable of ever smiling again and Rice seemed to be struggling to understand his inability to exert any real control over midfield.

With Arteta’s defense unable to contain the superb Anthony Gordon and superb match-winner Alexander Isak on a day when Arsenal made a litany of uncharacteristic unforced errors, Eddie Howe’s team remembered how to be street smart and deserved the rewards earned. After five Premier League games without a win, Newcastle again appears to be aiming upwards.

Howe used his manager’s notes in the match program to remind us that playing for the best team “brings out the very best in us”. Any ideas that this could be wishful thinking were debunked when Isak connected with Gordon’s fantastic right-wing cross and expertly guided Newcastle into a 12th-minute lead after a steal between Gabriel and William Saliba.

Until then, Arsenal had been the better side, but despite quickly reasserting their previous dominance, they struggled to create clear-cut chances.

Granted, Fabian Schär somehow diverted a threatening Bukayo Saka cross to safety before Lewis Hall’s brave block came between former Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino and a vicious volleyball goal, but Arteta’s scowl suggested he wasn’t too was optimistic.

Almost every time Howe’s side counter-attacked, Arsenal’s backline wobbled a little. Presumably aware of Jurrien Timber’s tendency to move into midfield from left back, Howe had deployed Gordon on his less preferred right flank, leaving the impressive Joelinton to attack the left flank.

With Gordon looking like a natural in a role he would never have volunteered for, Arteta’s defenders were repeatedly dragged into places they didn’t really want to go, while Isak’s intelligent positioning highlighted why the Arsenal manager has long been interested in recruiting the best players. Sweden centre-forward.

Arteta is also believed to be an admirer of Bruno Guimarães and that opinion is unlikely to have changed watching the Brazilian midfielder – deployed at the heart of that department on a day when Italian Sandro Tonali started on the bench before eventually being Joe Willock replaced. – constantly interrupting visiting attacks, winning quite a few smart free-kicks along the way.

Hats off also to former Arsenal midfielder Willock, who, together with Guimarães and Sean Longstaff, ensured that Rice and his friends certainly did not have a good time. Behind them, Hall, another player much improved by Howe’s coaching, shone at left-back and largely suspected an unusually subdued Saka.

It took a decent stop from David Raya to keep out a low shot from Isak as Arteta began to reshuffle his pack, introducing Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back and expanding his attacking arsenal with 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri.

They were soon joined by Ben White and Gabriel Jesus, but apart from defending deeper and deeper as the minutes passed, Newcastle managed to stop and start things so sloppily that Arsenal rarely managed to get into any convincing passing.

At one point late in the second half, Pope apparently went down injured, giving his teammates a chance to regroup, but wasted time alone did not ensure a resurgent Newcastle achieved this well-deserved victory.