Arsenal went into their shell. They didn’t have any answers, any bravery on the ball and Mikel Arteta looked a frustrated figure throughout. They played negative football and deservedly got nothing from this game. They are so up and down, so inconsistent. They didn’t have the bottle to put in a huge performance.
You’d put everything you have on Tottenham to go to Norwich and get a result. I don’t doubt that Tottenham will get a result and, if they don’t, it will be one of the upsets of the Premier League in recent years.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports: “Newcastle deserved to win the match and were much better than us. We had nothing in the game. They were much better in every department and we were poor with the ball. A lot of things happened during the game, like substitutions for injuries, but it’s not an excuse because they were much better than us.
“It’s true that we could not cope with the game that we had to play here. We tried to change some things but it didn’t make it better. We had moments where we looked better but then the execution was so poor and the goals we gave away were extremely poor.
“It’s extremely disappointing that Newcastle were 10 times better than us and the performane was nowhere near the level we need to be at if we want to play in the Champions League.
“I am incredibly disappointed. It’s a very painful one. It was in our hands and today it’s not in our hands. We have to beat Everton and wait for Norwich to beat Spurs. There’s always a tiny chance in football.”