Newcastle United were poor in the second half of their latest Premier League game against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, with all four goals coming in the second half.
Steve Bruce would have been pleased with their first-half showing as his side created a few decent chances and restricted the Gunners to very little.
But once Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opener went in, there was no way back for the Magpies who hardly touched the ball in the second 45 minutes.
What we learnt
The winter break hasn't looked to have had any benefit to Newcastle who showed some concerting signs in the second half.
They couldn't get near the Gunners in the second half, and barring Alan Saint-Maxmin's shot which hit the post, they never really looked like scoring.
The defending was extremely suspect at times and with every goal conceded having something avoidable in it.
January signings Valentino Lazaro, Danny Rose and Nabil Bentaleb haven't had the desired effect on the team so far - Lazaro, in particular, was easily beaten for Arsenal's second goal from Nicholas Pepe.
What Bruce needs to look at
There were several times in the first half where Newcastle's attackers were somewhat isolated - work needs to be done on providing options whilst on the attack
Should Newcastle begin taking the game to teams rather than it being brought to them? Part of the isolation issue is down to players being left further downfield as the Magpies try to counter-attack their opponents
Despite not being creative in recent matches Newcastle have been able to keep their opponents out, however, this game became all too easy for Arsenal so defensive work is required
Bruce could also look at changes in personnel with players now coming back from injury. Fabian Schär and Florian Lejeune returned to the bench for this game so they could make an impact at the back
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