Arsenal lacked guile in Newcastle draw

LONDON, January 4

Calm heads are required when a Premier League title race begins to heat up so the sight of apoplectic Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta racing down the touchline in stoppage time against Newcastle United to harangue an official does not augur well.

Even less so as Arteta’s fury was entirely misplaced.

The Spaniard was convinced his side should have been awarded a penalty when Granit Xhaka’s cut back hit the arm of Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy — despite Murphy’s arm being in a ‘natural’ position.

The late controversy in the 0-0 draw rather distracted from how Newcastle had so effectively dealt with an Arsenal side who until Tuesday had scored in every game they had played this season and who had previously not dropped any home points.

That was perhaps the reason Arteta was so worked up, as in Newcastle’s astute manager Eddie Howe he met his match. Apart from a flurry of early pressure when Newcastle were briefly rocked, Arsenal’s attacking supply lines were badly disrupted throughout the contest and they rarely threatened to penetrate the visiting defence. Howe served up the perfect blueprint of how to stop free-flowing Arsenal and Arteta will need to have a Plan B in the coming weeks as other teams set up in similar fashion. While the result offered a reality check for Arsenal, the fact that they are ‘disappointed’ that their lead in the title race was restricted to eight points speaks volumes for how far the club has come under Arteta. — Reuters