Alexander Isak’s world-class performance sends Newcastle United closer to Wembley and he should make Arsenal return to the January transfer drawing board.

After setting Arsenal a New Year’s Resolution of ‘learning from past January mistakes’, it does not seem that they are taking heed of our advice after Mikel Arteta intimated his “priority” is on his current crop of players this month instead of actively pursuing a game-changing signing.

This is despite Arsenal dealing with an injury crisis that left Arteta with only “seven or eight” first-team players in Monday’s training session.

The absence of Bukayo Saka is obviously the most glaring, especially given Arsenal’s over-reliance on the England international and Martin Odegaard this season.

Arsenal have generally returned to form in recent months, but Saka’s injury and Odegaard’s inability to start against Brighton due to illness exposed their creative frailties as they only registered a single shot on target in Saturday’s 1-1 draw.

Their focus turned away from the Premier League on Tuesday night as they hosted Newcastle United – another team desperate for silverware – in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

Heading into this match, everyone associated with Newcastle would have rightly fancied their chances as Eddie Howe’s resurgent side began the game with far superior momentum, though Arsenal started brightly.

This was largely thanks to Odegaard’s return to the starting XI, whose brilliance really cannot be understated as he makes players around him better as the glue that majestically brings Arsenal’s attacking moves together.

Still, Arsenal’s best openings in the opening 25 minutes came from set pieces. Even Newcastle, a side typically strong when defending these situations, were forced into last-ditch challenges to prevent an opener.

This was until Arsenal capitalised on a fleeting moment of Newcastle losing their shape as a Leandro Trossard through ball and Gabriel Martinelli run set up a one-on-one, which resulted in the Brazil international striking the post.

This opening breathed fresh life into Arsenal, who almost scored as another corner sparked bedlam in the penalty area after Trossard’s swing and a miss saw him follow Martinelli in spurning a chance.

Newcastle weathered this storm and when their goal against the run of play came in the 36th minute, it inevitably came via their main man…

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While Arsenal were the better side for the first 30 minutes, Alexander Isak was the best player on the pitch as it was clear from minute one that he was locked in.

The William Saliba-Gabriel pairing is perhaps the best in the Premier League, but Isak immediately had the beating of them as he effortlessly glided past his markers in moves reminiscent of a certain Thierry Henry.

After a sluggish start to the season, £150m-rated Isak has hit new heights for Newcastle in recent months as he’s usurped Erling Haaland as the Premier League’s best striker (based on form, at the very least).

His goal was somewhat fortunate as Dan Burn’s flick-on from Martin Dubravka’s free-kick inside Newcastle’s half found Jacob Murphy, who passed it onto Isak to convert.

It was uncharacteristically poor defending from Arsenal as Isak would not have believed his luck as he found himself free in the penalty area. A player in his supreme form was never going to miss as he fired into the roof of the net for his 14th goal in 15 games and 50th in 89 Newcastle appearances.

Naturally, Isak was in the thick of the action as Newcastle doubled their lead shortly after the interval. The Sweden international orchestrated the move; dropping deep to collect possession before drifting back into the penalty area to collect a one-two with Jacob Murphy.

Isak did not score with his shot, but he was still the creator as David Raya could only palm his effort into the path of Anthony Gordon, who reacted quicker than Jurrien Timber to convert from close range.

Gordon rubbed salt into Arsenal’s wounds by replicating Henry’s 1998 celebration for France vs Saudi Arabia, but they would have been fed up enough watching Isak run the match with a sensational No.9 performance.

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If Martinelli and Trossard’s fluffed opportunities weren’t enough, Arsenal’s starting No.9 – Kai Havertz – criminal miss with his shoulder in the six-yard box made it as clear as day that they are lacking a striker of Isak’s calibre to reinvigorate their forward line, which looks increasingly ordinary without Saka.

It is not groundbreaking to say Arsenal are in desperate need of a striker, but this issue has been kicked down the road for a few too many windows; it needs to be sorted this month (preferably) or in the summer at the latest if they want to avoid being caught standing still by their Premier League rivals on the rise.

As for Newcastle, they were superb in a perfect away performance as they executed Howe’s game plan superbly in a match that further demonstrated that they are back to their 2022/23 best; a difficult-to-penetrate defence, energetic midfield, pacey wingers capable of clinically punishing opponents on the counter and a world-class striker.

That final factor was the biggest difference between Newcastle and Arsenal in a game that leaves Howe’s men on the brink of another Wembley final and legend’s status and Arteta under pressure to find answers in a season that’s descending into one to forget in the absence of an Isak-type solution.