Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Arsenal beat Newcastle to move into the top 10 of the Premier League and increase the pressure on Magpies boss Steve Bruce. Aubameyang, who had earlier hit the post from a tight angle in the first half, opened the scoring in the 50th minute when he fired past Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow. Arsenal doubled their lead as Emile Smith Rowe’s pullback found Bukayo Saka and the England international side-footed the ball into the net. Aubameyang, 31, got his second and the Gunners’ third after Cedric Soares, in his first league start of the season, got to the byline and set up the striker.

The Gabon international scored 29 goals in all competitions last season, including 22 in the Premier League, but he had previously struggled for goals in 2020-21. This double took his league total to five for the campaign and boss Mikel Arteta was pleased to see Aubameyang return to form. “He needed that for his confidence and the team needs that to be successful,” said the Gunners manager. “We were missing his goals, we all know that, so to have them back is great for the team.” Miguel Almiron had Newcastle’s best chance but shot over from the edge of the penalty area when it was goalless.

The victory takes Arsenal above Aston Villa into 10th, with the Gunners seven points adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool in the last Champions League qualifying spot. Newcastle are 15th, seven points clear of 18th-placed Fulham, although the London side have a game in hand. For Bruce, who faced calls for his resignation after last week’s 1-0 loss to bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United, his side have now not won in nine matches in all competitions. Despite 2020-21 having been a tough campaign for them so far, there have been recent signs of revival and this win extends their unbeaten run to six matches.

We don’t got Ozil,
Mezut Lazy Ozil,
He’s Fenerbache’s man,
He sucks off Erdo?an,
Fuck off Mezut Ozil

He’s gone, he’s finally gone. The most overrrated, frog eyed, idiotic, lazy, luxury of a player is finally gone from my club. He is now Fenerbache’s problem. Mesut Ozil said farewell to Arsenal teammates and flew to Turkey on Sunday to join Fenerbahce in a bid to reignite a once-flourishing career that faltered in London. The former Germany midfielder, who is of Turkish descent, hasn’t played for Arsenal since March after falling out of favor with manager Mikel Arteta over concerns about the player’s work rate.

The 32-year-old Ozil wasn’t even included in Arsenal’s Premier League squad for the season despite being one of the highest earners and has been ostentatiously tweeting his support for the team from his home during matches. Now Arsenal has managed to offload Ozil before his contract expires in June. Fenerbahce posted images of Ozil leaving London on a private jet on Sunday night. After 7½ years at Arsenal, which he joined from Real Madrid, Ozil is heading to one of the favoured clubs of Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ozil posed for photos with Erdogan in May 2018 in the run-up to the Turkish general election — prompting serious criticism from German football officials and antagonizing some in Germany who felt the player wasn’t fully behind the national team — while the president was an official witness at Ozil’s wedding ceremony.