Arsenal remained hot on the heels of the top two in the title battle with an emphatic 4-1 victory over a struggling Newcastle United side in the Premier League on Saturday.

An own goal by Sven Botman and a simple Kai Havertz finish put Arsenal 2-0 up at the break before Bukayo Saka,  and Jakub Kiwior struck to wrap up the points.

Joe Willock came on to score a consolation for Newcastle.

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The victory took Mikel Arteta’s side to 58 points after 26 games, two behind leaders Liverpool and a point adrift of Manchester City, who earlier won 1-0 at Bournemouth.

Arsenal have now scored 25 goals in their last six Premier League games and the win over Newcastle was the perfect tonic.

This  followed their late 1-0 loss at Porto in a disappointing Champions League last 16 first leg display in midweek.

Arsenal character fuelled bounce-back victory – Arteta 

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta praised his players’ mentality after an impressive response to their  defeat at Porto as they blew away Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Gunners scored twice in each half of their 4-1 home victory to record a sixth straight league win, a run in which they have racked up an aggregate scoreline of 25-3.

Saturday’s performance kept the pressure on the Premier League’s top two of Liverpool and Manchester City.

“I think we had a great performance, big credit to the boys after two days and just half a day to prepare the game,” Arteta told reporters.

“The way we executed everything, the intensity, the commitment, the determination, the aggression and progression in everything that we were doing with the ball.

“They played with a lot of courage and we got rewarded.”

The Arsenal manager was particularly pleased with his side’s reaction.

“We showed how much we want it … I could sense it from the moment we were in Porto that we were ready for the game,” he said.

“In sport, things happen for a reason, you have to learn from that. We have to understand why that happened and be better.”

Arteta, however, was still keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“We could have scored many more today,” he said. “We have to continue to do that, keep developing, all the things that we can still do better.”