Newcastle United vs Arsenal: 'performance was nowhere near the Champions League level,' says Mikel Arteta after top four blow

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits that his side’s “performance was nowhere near the Champions League level” after the 2-0 loss at Newcastle United on Monday night. The result was a huge blow to the Gunners’ Premier League top-four dreams as they now find themselves two points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, with only one game remaining. The Gunners arrived at St James’ Park knowing a victory was needed to move back to the final Champions League spot after Spurs had defeated Burnley 24 hours earlier. But it was the Magpies, who played with more determination and netted twice in the second half through Ben White’s own goal and Bruno Guimaraes’ late strike. 

Defeat at St. James’ Park.

⚫️ 2-0 ? (FT)#NEWARS pic.twitter.com/2tID8WcK1w

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 16, 2022

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Arsenal lost 5 of their 9 games in April

Arteta won the Premier League manager of the month award for March, for coaching his side to three wins in four outings. But the following month, April, has been disastrous for the Gunners, losing five of the nine games and dropping out of the top four. Back-to-back defeats, that includes a 3-0 loss to Tottenham, has handed the initiative to Spurs and Arteta now needs favour from Norwich City on the final matchday, if he is to guide his team to Champions League. 

Newcastle were 10 times better than us: Arteta

The Spanish coach told Sky Sports: “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.”

Newcastle were much better in every department: Arteta

“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.”

Ben White’s own goal and Bruno Guimaraes’ late strike

It was a dominant performance from the hosts and Arsenal struggled to cope with their intensity. Newcastle were by far the better side in the first half and took the lead ten minutes after the interval when White put the ball inside his own net while trying to cut Joelinton’s cross. And then. Five minutes from time, Guimaraes. Who is linked with a summer move to Emirates, sealed the victory with Newcastle’s second of the night. The margin of defeat could have been bigger if not for some brilliant saves by Aaron Ramsdale.