Eddie Howe hits back at Mikel Arteta after Newcastle beat Arsenal – 'Irrelevant'

Eddie Howe was in no mood to listen to Mikel Arteta’s complaints after his Newcastle side got the better of Arsenal. Following their Carabao Cup win over Chelsea in midweek, the hosts ended a run of five Premier League games without a win as Alexander Isak’s early header secured victorya.

Howe’s side merited the three points as they put another major dent in Arsenal’s title ambitions.

Despite Manchester City also slipping up at Bournemouth, the Gunners are seven points off leaders Liverpool FC after the Reds came from behind to beat Brighton.

Last season, Arteta was left livid with the officials after his side lost by the same scoreline at St James’ Park, but this time around it was the tactics of the home players that seemingly irked him. “We started the game really well, we were on top of it, looked sharp then one action with an unbelievable cross and finish and the momentum changes,” he said.

“You know the game they want to play, it’s clear. You can too often get dragged into that type of game and we weren’t good enough. Credit to them to what they do. When we went behind we lacked purpose and a threat.

“In transition we allowed them to sustained attacks and we gave 17 or 18 free-kicks so that stops the game constantly. It is not a good outcome for us. They are really good at what they want to do and we got dragged into that today.”

In reality, the Spaniard’s team again looked to badly miss captain Martin Odegaard as they failed to sustain any kind of control. And they managed just one shot on target over the 90 minutes against a resolute Newcastle defence. 

Howe chose not to take the bait. Instead, he opted to focus on his own team’s performance as they moved into the top half of the table. “It’s irrelevant to me what anyone says really a part from my team, and that’s how we’ve always looked at it,” he hit back.

“There is always outside noise so we just try to do what we do to try and win games on a consistent basis. We know it’s been inconsistent this season, they’ve had good bits and not so good bits. I think generally the last few games our performance level have definitely increased and we’ve consistent with it.”

Prior to this week, speculation had been mounting over the Englishman’s future. But despite acknowledging recent results had been poor, Howe argued the result showcased the best of his side. 

“It goes to show how quickly football can change – two big performances against two very good teams,” he added. “Today was built on all of our qualities we’ve shown historically – heart, determination, desire and quality as well. A good day for us.”

Last season, Arteta was left livid with the officials after his side lost by the same scoreline at St James’ Park, but this time around it was the tactics of the home players that seemingly irked him. “We started the game really well, we were on top of it, looked sharp then one action with an unbelievable cross and finish and the momentum changes,” he said.

“You know the game they want to play, it’s clear. You can too often get dragged into that type of game and we weren’t good enough. Credit to them to what they do. When we went behind we lacked purpose and a threat.

“In transition we allowed them to sustained attacks and we gave 17 or 18 free-kicks so that stops the game constantly. It is not a good outcome for us. They are really good at what they want to do and we got dragged into that today.”

In reality, the Spaniard’s team again looked to badly miss captain Martin Odegaard as they failed to sustain any kind of control. And they managed just one shot on target over the 90 minutes against a resolute Newcastle defence. 

Howe chose not to take the bait. Instead, he opted to focus on his own team’s performance as they moved into the top half of the table. “It’s irrelevant to me what anyone says really a part from my team, and that’s how we’ve always looked at it,” he hit back.

“There is always outside noise so we just try to do what we do to try and win games on a consistent basis. We know it’s been inconsistent this season, they’ve had good bits and not so good bits. I think generally the last few games our performance level have definitely increased and we’ve consistent with it.”

Prior to this week, speculation had been mounting over the Englishman’s future. But despite acknowledging recent results had been poor, Howe argued the result showcased the best of his side. 

“It goes to show how quickly football can change – two big performances against two very good teams,” he added. “Today was built on all of our qualities we’ve shown historically – heart, determination, desire and quality as well. A good day for us.”