Arsenal’s 13-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end as Newcastle United seized the advantage in the Carabao Cup semi-final, securing a 2-0 victory in the first leg at Emirates Stadium.
The outcome might have been very different for the Gunners had Gabriel Martinelli found the net instead of hitting the post when through on goal in the first half. They paid a heavy price as Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon demonstrated clinical finishing, showing the Brazilian (and his similarly goal-shy teammates) how it’s done.
Here’s what the managers, players, pundits and stattos made of a deflating evening…
Mikel Arteta on the result and performance…
It’s not a result that reflects the story of the game. But the reality is that they were super efficient with the chances that they had and we weren’t, and at this level in these kind of scenarios, you need to impose yourself and win the game. It’s just half time and when I see the team playing and how we dealt with a lot of situations and playing against a very good team, I must say, I have full belief that we can go up there and do it.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Eddie Howe on how the game played out…
It was a really interesting game. We started off on the front foot – we tried to take the game to them. We then fatigued because the players have given so much, and then, it was about our mentality to defend, and we did that really well. I am really pleased because this is a tough ground, and we’ve suffered here, and today is another big step forward. But we played with real confidence and belief. We know the tie is still very much alive, and we’ve got a tough home leg to come.
Source: Sky Sports
Dan Burn on the importance of dealing with Arsenal’s set pieces…
To get a result here you’re going to have to defend set pieces well, they’re so good at them. I thought everyone was brilliant, they’ve had chances, I’m sure they probably deserved a goal but we’ve thrown bodies on the line and it’s managed to get us over. [Defending well] gives us a good platform to build on, we’ve had a sticky patch where we conceded quite a few goals but we’ve had a few clean sheets in a row now, that’s the whole team not just the back lads. You’ve seen the second half there, we were brilliant but it’s only really a job half done, they’ve got nothing to lose coming to St James’ so we’ll have to be ready for it.
Source: Sky Sports
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Jurrien Timber on wanting to put things right…
It’s all to play for in that game, it’s still a semi-final, and it’s still not done. But at the same time, we have a lot of games coming up, but we have to look back at this game and learn from it, definitely. I don’t like losing the first match, but now that this is the case, I think it’s a good thing that we have a second chance in the second leg.
Source: Arsenal.com
1 – Prior to this season, only once has a side in the semi-finals of the League Cup progressed to the final having lost the first leg by 2+ goals, with Aston Villa doing so against Tranmere Rovers in 1993-94. Dusted.
— OptaJoe (@optajoe.com) January 7, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Arteta on how the Carabao Cup ball compares to its Premier League equivalent…
It’s just different, very different to a Premier League ball and you have to adapt to that because it flies differently. When you touch it, the grip is very different as well, so you have to adapt to that.
Source: Post-game press conference
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Anthony Gordon on Alexander Isak…
Very good. He is the best in Europe, probably right now, with the form he’s in. The best quality he’s got is that he’s so humble. He is not scared to pass the ball. He’s very unselfish, and his best ability is his raw ability on the ball.
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
Theo Walcott on Arsenal’s struggle to play with freedom…
What worries me, from the outside looking in, is they’re getting excited by set pieces all the time instead of excited about free-flowing football – that’s what Arsenal is known for. They’re going away from it, shying away from it at this moment in time. you can see at times the players are running out of ideas, They can’t play off the cuff, they’re playing to a system at times which gives the opportunity to Newcastle, who defended incredibly well and enjoy defending, it gave them time to get back into shape when there was space to attack teams.
Source: Sky Sports
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Troy Deeney on Arsenal lacking a Plan B…
It’s the same stuff, they are doing the same patterns of play, they’re going down one side, they’re trying to play inside, they’re trying to get a third man runner and all Newcastle did was go five and five [in two lines] and said ‘go on then, break us down’ and they couldn’t do it. Yes, they had a couple of chances but the one for Martinelli came from a turnover it wasn’t that they worked it and the rest were from second bits on corners. It’s not exactly like they are breaking teams down. The one problem we threw at Arsenal’s door for the last two years is they need a striker and every year Mikel chooses not to do that, goes with Gabi [Jesus] and [Kai] Havertz, they think they can do it but in the crunch time, those guys go missing and that’s what happened today.
Source: CBS Sports Golazo
Dion Dublin on Newcastle’s current run…
I am looking at Newcastle and they have their mojo back. They seem to have each others backs as players. There is a lot of togetherness. Newcastle are definitely back.
Source: BBC Radio 5 Live
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Arteta on turning attention to Sunday’s FA Cup clash with Manchester United…
We need a lot of energy, we have a big game here against Man United in a different competition, so let’s move on. You have to turn things around.
Source: Arsenal.com
We needed two setpiece goals against Utd the last time we played. They don’t come out much and we are not attacking much. It is going to be a drab affair.
We are evolving into setpiece team. Waste about 6-8 minutes total in games taking corners and trowins. It’s getting ridiculous. Keep crossing the ball in the box when we have 1 player Jesus against 4 defenders. Fk joke.
I get all this talk about set pieces but no one really complains when it’s working. We have hit a wall, yes, but that is not the major problem. We dont get excited by set pieces, we actually just try to make the most of every single opportunity. I cant blame them for that especially in a game like that where we struggle to create or finish chances. The crosses are frustrating as well, but we dont have much in penetrative play against teams sitting back at the moment. Players dipping in form and missing through injury has contributed, but… Read more »
I think it’s weird how people keep talking about “set-pieces” as well. We’re good at corners, not set-pieces. How many goals have we scored from free-kicks?
No one is complaining about them, sometimes they work sometimes they don’t. But overall tactics and all our hopes shouldn’t go towards maybe scoring from a corner or a free kick. We should it as an extra weapon in our armor. The other issue is we are wasting so much valuable time taking them when we are behind or level.
Balanced comment
Howe said after game “we have to manage Isak, he’s far to important to lose that’s why we took him off”
Really hope Arteta learns this. Saka was left on when 3 nil up against Barnsley or someone. This is not hindsight as many on here were saying this two seasons ago that when Games are won take him off.
Shame i have to say i totally agree with Troy Deeney
Frankly we do have a Plan B. Corners. It’s so good we forgot we also need a Plan A…
The other corner?
Brilliant. I laughed so hard I spat out my onions, pickles, ketchup, and mustard.
Denney had a plan A, B, C, D, ..Z
He was a manager recently right? A very successful one. Same as legendary Valencia manager Gary Neville.
I know we lost and look flat ( mainly due to a lack of goals) but never agree with Denney
When Arsenal lost Saka they lost a large part of their ability to score from open play. This is not the managers fault. What is his fault is not having foresight to have suitable cover. What is his fault is having such an imbalanced squad-four left sided defensive players on the bench. Once you take out Saka and Ødegaard the team loses it’s creativity – and three weeks to change that- sorry but nah…
We hadn’t lost for 13 matches and best record across all of 2923. These pricks are just waiting to come out and slate Arsenal, even Walcott sadly as he desperately tries to build a career as sky pundit
Great that we are still doing well in 900 years time!
We did have a very good year across 2024 , just need to do it in a full season rather than a year.
How many times were we “Calendar Champions” under Arsene, as well? It seems it’s our lot in life.
“Calendar Champions, you’ll never sing that!”
Weird how he doesn’t count Martinelli’s chance
Newcastle’s tactics were interesting, a striker on the pitch to score goals. We could learn something from that.
Yes but here’s what you, as a mere fan rather than a thinker, don’t understand about PSR
We had the opportunity to buy Isak and we bought a left back. Mikel has chosen the priorities for recruitment so he owns the lack of ability in attack. We used to play very direct with pace and intent, we no longer play that way. Injuries and illness have an impact but so does quality of attackers.
Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt.
Having said that, I’m not seeing what Isak being way better than our strikers had to do with either of their goals. He had a tap-in and a shot that got pushed straight to a team-mate.
Kinda tired of “the result doesn’t reflect the nature of the game” excuse
If the opposing team put away their chances and we don’t, then I’d say that’s a fair reflection
Deeney talking absolute bollocks, as usual. Arsenal created way more chances of every type than Newcastle in this game. From open play, from setpieces. Through the middle, down the flanks, on the break, or intricate passing.
This was a story of not being able to finish your chances, not of “not having a Plan B” or whatever other nonsense the media has come up with and therefore believes they need to repeat at every opportunity, no matter how inapplicable it is.
The belittling of the chance for Martinelli is nonsense, as well. As Blogs said today, James said in his video and pretty much the whole stadium was shouting yesterday (or maybe it was just me), we would be a lot more dangerous if we got the ball from back to front much quicker. It’s a massive reason why Liverpool are doing well this season. It is so painful to watch the players make the easy pass time after time because they’re paralysed with the fear of making a mistake. Over-caution is Arteta’s main weakness and it gets transmitted to the… Read more »
If we don’t buy a new forward then might as well forfeit the season. Havertz and Jesus are decent as striker options, but they can’t be the main man in crunch time. Martinelli is my favorite Arsenal player but he’s lost at the moment. Trossard is a super sub. Saka is him but he’s out for some time still. Sterling is a forgotten man and won’t give us the physicality needed up front. Merino and Calafiori have been just about good enough squad players but why aren’t we buying a CF Arteta?
I cannot see Arsenal making any major signing this month.
Forfeit the season? We’re second in the PL and well placed in the CL table. We need to keep fighting to make sure we’re in the CL again next year and keep building.
By forfeit the season obviously I meant the league title. Carabao Cup is a mountain to climb now, FA cup perhaps – but UCL we simply cannot rely on just Jesus and Havertz to carry us to the title. I like them both, but they’re just not enough. Sake has always bailed us out but he’s done his hammy. We need reinforcements.
We need an Eze type second creator and a CF like Sesko/Isak. For about 150 mil you can probably get both.
We created enough to win this game. The comments I see from the “experts” may have been valid in som of our other games , but they need to comment this game, and we created massive chances, had some brilliant moments that interestingly didn’t derive from Ødegard brilliance, which is in fact a big step forward in our creativity. Our defending was a bit more sacrificed than usual,y guess is that was deliberate, and would have been a success story if not for our awful finishing, and a vibe of not being convinced
It was the ball – nothing to do with the players failing to score. Nothing to do with his failure to address squad weaknesses – it was the ball – Arsenal will never achieve anything except top four and qualification for a tournament they have no chance to win..
He was asked about the ball and said it’s different and they need to adapt.
He would garner more respect by.focusing on his squad failures and taking responsibility- he cannot do that can he ?
TBF he was asked the question.
The day I start to take what comes out of Troy fucking Deeney’s cake hole seriously, is the day I know I’m in trouble….
Hey Deeney, Easter Island is calling, they want their giant head back.
What Theo said.
Too scripted in open play.
I see two simple problems at Arsenal. Left 8 and LW. Trossard was supposed to be a stopgap and not future. And we never really replaced Xhaka. Rice and Merino just cannot recycle a ball quickly like him. This makes things easy and man marking Odegaard kills all our creativity.
We’ve got to get back to playing a more free flowing attacking style even if it leaves us open to some chances at the other end. The current tactics are not working consistently enough for us to score enough to overcome the defensive mistakes we are making even with a more defensive approach in our tactics.