Arsenal deserved to lose against Newcastle, says Arteta

Mikel Arteta was left frustrated by Arsenal’s performance in their 1-0 defeat away to Newcastle United on Saturday.

The defeat left them third in the Premier League, though they could be up to eight points behind Manchester City by the end of the day.

Arsenal had 63.9% possession and mustered more shots (10) and a higher expected goals total (1.11) than Newcastle, but could not find a leveller following Alexander Isak’s early header.

And Arteta was disappointed with how his side did the basics following what he thought was a good start.

“We deserved to lose today. I thought we started really well and were really dominant. We didn’t defend the box well enough,” he told Premier League Productions.

“Credit to them. They scored a great goal with a good ball.

“Then the game changes and you start to play a different game. You have to adapt and we didn’t do that well enough. I am very frustrated.

“We got dragged into a game they are looking for constantly and we couldn’t play the game that we wanted.”

Arsenal only managed one shot on target in the match, coming from a Mikel Merino effort that was cleared off the line in the first half. Declan Rice, meanwhile, put a close-range header wide in second-half stoppage time.

“We had two big chances: Mikel had a big one, Declan had a big one. We lacked answers,” said Arteta.

Arsenal failed to register a shot on target in the second half against Newcastle.

It’s the first time that’s happened in a Premier League game since 31 December 2023 vs Fulham #NEWARS pic.twitter.com/XrU8d4IHvZ

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) November 2, 2024

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, meanwhile, was delighted with the Magpies’ performance as they sealed back-to-back victories following their win over Chelsea in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

“You have to be really strong mentality and know results will turn if you continue to do the right things,” Howe told BBC Sport.

“It has been a difficult week with the fixtures, but the players have done really well.

“There was a better feeling in training after the Chelsea win, as if pressure lifted slightly.

“Today’s performance was built on hard work, desire and a lot of really good defending in the second half. I thought we looked good.”

Isak headed home from a pinpoint Anthony Gordon cross to tally up his third goal in three successive appearances in all competitions.

“I wouldn’t say it is a trademark goal for Alex but really pleased to see it. Anthony can give you that on his natural right-hand side and it was a great ball,” said Howe.

“It was always going to take a moment like that as it was a game of few chances.”