Marco Alonso’s free-kick on the stroke of half-time gave champions Chelsea their second Premier League win of the week with a 1-0 victory over Southampton on Saturday.
The hosts dominated but could not find a second against a Southampton team that defended resolutely, and needed a good save from goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to deny Saints substitute Charlie Austin.
Chelsea’s win saw them move into third place, but 14 points adrift of leaders Manchester City, who thumped Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 later that evening.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte – who after last Saturday’s loss to West Ham United all but ran up the white flag on their hopes of successfully defending their title – resisted the temptation to bring Alvaro Morata into the side even though the striker had recovered from a back problem.
Little was seen of Chelsea in attack until the 14th minute when Willian cut inside and exchanged passes with Alonso but shot a yard wide.
Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster was not called into action until the 20th minute, when he had to push away a bouncing volley by Alonso and was fortunate a minute later when he could only parry a shot from distance by Gary Cahill but no Chelsea player was close enough to profit.
Courtois kept the hosts ahead on the hour mark, diving alertly to his left as Austin ran onto a pass from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and swerved a shot towards the corner.
Chelsea too pressed for a second, with the impressive Forster denying Alonso his second of the match after the left-back had chested down Willian’s pass and volleyed with his right foot.
Morata, on as a substitute, shot too close to Forster and Alonso headed wide, while Cesc Fabregas caught out the defence following a quickly-taken free-kick, but his shot rolled across the face of the goal instead of into the net.
Arsenal back on track through Ozil magic
Arsene Wenger’s side boosted their bid to qualify for the Champions League via a top-four finish and in the process condemned relegation-threatened Newcastle to an eighth defeat in their last nine games.
In truth, the margin of victory ought to have been more emphatic than the exquisite volleyed finish by Ozil in the first half at the Emirates Stadium.
The game’s first chance was carved out by Newcastle, Jamaal Lascelles’ header from a free-kick being beaten away by Petr Cech, but the first half belonged to Arsenal.
Nominal full-backs Hector Bellerin and Ainsley Maitland-Niles pushed up into midfield to offer width to the Arsenal attack, while in midfield Ozil and Jack Wilshere swapped positions at will.
That left Alex Iwobi to drift across the front line and he seized on a fancy flick by Alexis Sanchez only to see his shot charged down.
Sanchez was the next to go close, shooting over the bar before Maitland-Niles intercepted a loose pass in the 13th minute and skipped away from two tackles before sending in a low shot which ruffled the outside of the Newcastle net.
When the opening goal arrived after 24 minutes, it came as a result of a dazzling interchange between Wilshere and Iwobi.
The latter squared his cross into the path of Sanchez and when DeAndre Yedlin blocked the Chilean’s shot, Lascelles headed clear only to Ozil, who hooked the ball into the far corner with a majestic finish.
Newcastle’s response was negligible, primarily because they could not hold on to the ball and because they were too busy chasing Arsenal shadows.