Premier League: Newcastle end Arsenal's unbeaten start to season - reaction

 

Newcastle United ended Arsenal's unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a narrow 1-0 victory at St James' Park on Sunday. Anthony Gordon's controversial second-half winner was enough to secure the three points for the Magpies, who moved up to sixth in the table, while Arsenal slipped to third.

Reaction from Newcastle

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was delighted with his side's performance, particularly their defensive display.

"I'm immensely proud of the players," he said. "I thought we were excellent today, from start to finish. We defended superbly, and we created some really good chances.

"Arsenal are a very good team, but we never gave them an inch. We were ruthless in our defending, and we took our chance when it came."

Newcastle captain Fabian Schar echoed his manager's sentiments.

"We had a game plan, and we stuck to it perfectly," he said. "We knew that Arsenal would have a lot of possession, but we were well-organized and disciplined.

"We also knew that we would have to be clinical in attack, and we were. We took our chance when it came, and we held on for a deserved victory."

Reaction from Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was understandably disappointed with his side's performance, and he was particularly critical of the referee's decision to award Newcastle the winning goal.

"I thought the referee's performance was unacceptable," he said. "He made some very poor decisions, and they cost us the game.

"I'm not going to talk about the individual decisions, but they were all wrong. It's a disgrace."

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was also disappointed with the result, but he refused to blame the referee.

"We didn't deserve to win the game," he said. "We weren't good enough. We created a few chances, but we didn't take them.

"We have to learn from this and move on. We still have a lot of quality in this team, and we're still in a good position in the table."

Overall reaction

Newcastle's victory was a significant result, and it showed that they are a team to be taken seriously this season. They have a strong squad, and they are playing with a lot of confidence.

Arsenal's defeat was a setback, but they remain in a good position in the table. They have a young and talented team, and they will be looking to bounce back quickly.