Mikel Arteta had no complaints about his side’s defeat at Newcastle but refused to concede that the title race is all but over.
“I am very frustrated, we deserved to lose today,” said Arsenal’s manager after Alexander Isak’s fine first-half header secured Eddie Howe’s team a first win in six Premier League games. “We got dragged into the game Newcastle wanted and not the one we wanted. But you have to be at your best in every game to give you a chance to win.”
Not that Arteta has abandoned hope of overhauling Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table. His team are seven points off the lead. “After 10 games we are not going to find the answer now,” he said. “It is not about winning the title, it is about being our best version every week. We have to put it right on Wednesday.”
If Arsenal’s impending Champions League date with Internazionale at San Siro promises to offer an intriguing litmus test of the team’s resilience, Arteta must once again cope without his key midfielder Martin Ødegaard, who is injured. “We don’t have him,” he said bluntly. “We can discuss that all day long but we have many other answers that are very effective.”
Those alternatives failed against a Newcastle side that even Arteta, who has rarely seen eye-to-eye with Howe, seemed grudgingly to admire here. “They are really good at what they do,” he said. “They drag you into the sort of game they want. They are all big and very physical, Joelinton especially.”
Asked whether he needed an Isak, Arteta demurred, insisting: “No, I love my players and I wouldn’t change them for anyone.”
The Sweden striker, long rumoured to be on Arsenal’s shopping list, was thinking only of Newcastle. He described the win as “a bit of a statement for us and for the fans” and said: “We’ve had a bad spell but hopefully this can be a bit of an ice-breaker for us.”
Howe was similarly optimistic. “The pressure lifted a little after beating Chelsea [in the Carabao Cup] last Wednesday but we’ve had to be really strong mentally,” he said. “Today was 95 minutes of concentration and consistency. We controlled and managed some very good Arsenal players pretty well. We looked good. It’s just three points but it means so much. We hadn’t won for a while in the Premier League. I’m sure it will do us the power of good. But now we must make sure this isn’t an isolated moment.”
