Newcastle power past Arsenal as Gunners' title hopes fade

The Gunners went into Saturday's game against Newcastle United at St James' Park looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League after last weekend's 2-2 draw against Liverpool.

Arsenal did not get off to a good start as Alexander Isak headed Newcastle in front inside the opening 15 minutes. A devilish cross by England international Anthony Gordon was met by the forward, who emphatically headed home past David Raya.

Mikel Arteta‘s side could not recover from this setback as they struggled to break down Newcastle, who defended resolutely to frustrate the visitors.

Arsenal stuttered in recent weeks in the Premier League and were once again far from their free-flowing best against Newcastle as goalkeeper Nick Pope had a pretty comfortable afternoon.

The North London outfit huffed and puffed to no avail in the latter stages as they suffered a potentially devastating defeat.

The Gunners have five wins, three draws and two defeats in ten matches this season and will be eight points adrift of table-toppers Manchester City if/when they beat AFC Bournemouth later in the day.

Arsenal could finish the weekend as low as seventh in the Premier League. Should Man City beat Bournemouth, it would be hard to see the London side bridging the gap and winning the Premier League this season after this latest setback.

Speaking post-match, Arteta explained why he was "very frustrated" with his side as they "lacked answers" against Newcastle.

"We deserved to lose today. I thought we started really well and were really dominant. We didn't defend the box well enough. Credit to them. They scored a great goal with a good ball," Arteta said.

"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.

"We had two big chances – Mikel had a big one, Declan had a big one. We lacked answers."

On reacting to the defeat: "We can say whatever we want. We will struggle to find the words today. We have to show it on the pitch on Wednesday night.

"You have to be at your best every time to give yourself a chance to win".

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