For much of the season so far, Arsenal fans have had to watch Liverpool score last-minute winner after last-minute winner.

Watching your Premier League title rival survive scare after scare has to be a draining experience, but yesterday afternoon it was the Gunners’ turn to win it at the death.

Despite clearly being the better team for most of the game against Newcastle United, Mikel Arteta’s side found themselves 1-0 for much of the encounter and staring down the barrel of yet more dropped points.

Fortunately, the North Londoners found a way to claim all three and narrow the gap to the Reds at the top of the table to just two points.

There were stand-out performances for Arsenal all over the pitch, including one starter who is starting to win comparisons to Cesc Fàbregas.

Arsenal's stand-out stars vs Newcastle

Now, while he didn’t necessarily have the best of games, falling over nothing to allow the hosts a goal early on, Gabriel Magaelehged more than made his mark by full-time.

Minutes

98′

Goals

1

Clearances

11

Blocked Shots

2

Interceptions

3

Tackles

3

Dribbled Past

0

Ground Duels (Won)

4 (4)

Aerial Duels (Won)

11 (8)

Touches

82

Shots on Target

1

The Brazilian titan made 11 clearances, blocked two shots, made three interceptions, won 100% of his ground duels and made three tackles.

However, it should really go without saying that his most significant impact on the game was his 96th-minute headed winner that sent the travelling fans absolutely potty.

Mikel Merino also deserves a lot of credit for his battling display, as in the 28 minutes or so he spent on the pitch, the Spaniard scored an outrageous header to kickstart the comeback, won four out of five duels and just added another avenue of attack for his side.

It wasn’t just the goal scorers who impressed, though, as Eberechi Eze put in a performance that should see him keep his place in the starting line-up for some time to come.

The former Crystal Palace star came so close to opening the scoring early on in the first half, but saw his shot pushed round the post by Nick Pope, and then, towards the end of the half, saw a perfectly struck volley saved as well.

It wasn’t just his shots that made the 27-year-old a danger to the Toon, though, as he completed 100% of his dribbles, played a key pass and was taking up threatening positions on both sides of the pitch.

In all, there were plenty of Arsenal stars who put on excellent displays yesterday afternoon, including one who has now been compared to Fabregas.

Arsenal's Fabregas-esque star

You could probably make the argument that the likes of Martin Odegaard, Eze or even Ethan Nwaneri share some Fabregas-esque qualities.

Chalkboard

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However, in this instance, Martin Zubimendi is the player in question, and the comparison comes from one analyst who described the former Real Sociedad star as a “Fabregas type” player.

Now, plenty of you may be scratching your heads as the 26-year-old generally plays in a deeper role than the former international ever did for Arsenal, Barcelona, or Chelsea.

However, the position he plays in has very little to do with the comparison itself; instead, what the analyst is getting at is the fact that the summer signing is capable of playing sensational passes into dangerous areas for his teammates.

In fact, while nothing came from it in the end, we saw this in yesterday’s game when he dinked the ball over the Newcastle defence only for Pope to make a great save to deny Jurrien Timber.

That wasn’t the only chance he created, though, as by the time the game ended, he had played two key passes, amassed an expected assists figure of 0.52, been accurate in 100% of his long balls and completed 54 of 60 passes.

Moreover, he’s also been accurate in 83% of his passes in the opposition’s half in the Premier League so far this season.

In other words, he is more than just a six; he is someone who can conduct play from slightly deeper, someone who can spray passes out wide to kickstart counters, or, as we saw yesterday, ping a ball into the penalty area and cause panic among opposition defenders.

Ultimately, there is still some way to go before he reaches his full potential. However, on top of his defensive attributes, Zubimendi is proving to be a dangerous Fabregas-esque passer from deep, and as respected analyst Ben Mattinson states, he’s been “near-perfect” for Arsenal so far this season.

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