Arsenal star issues rallying cry after 'deserved' Newcastle defeat
- Arsenal downed by Alexander Isak winner at St James' Park
- Mikel Arteta admitted his side were second best as Newcastle claimed all three points
- The Gunners have now dropped points in five of ten Premier League games
Arsenal centre-back William Saliba says his teammates must stick together in order to fight back from their latest setback at Newcastle United.
The Gunners lost 1-0 at St James' Park thanks to Alexander Isak's first half header and were second best against a spirited Magpies side who have now climbed into the top half of the Premier League table.
Still without captain Martin Odegaard, Arsenal lacked a cutting edge in midfield and were short of ideas as Newcastle stifled the creative juices of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
Manager Mikel Arteta admitted after the game that Arsenal deserved to walk away with nothing, and that sentiment was echoed by Saliba, who could only look on as Isak pulled off the back of Gabriel to power an unstoppable header past David Raya in the 12th minute.
“We are a bit sad because we wanted to win today," Saliba told TNT Sports. "But unfortunately we didn’t and we didn’t play the game that we wanted to play. We deserved to lose today, I think.
“We didn’t play how we wanted to pay they were good as well. Today, we don’t deserve to win. But that’s ok. We focus on the next week."
Anthony Gordon was praised for his role in Newcastle's goal, whipping a perfectly weighted cross into the path of Isak, but questions were asked in the immediate aftermath of the goal as to how the Swede found himself in so much space.
Saliba admitted that Arsenal could have done better and challenged his teammates to pull together in order to string together a run of more positive results.
“It’s a good goal, a good cross, good finishing. But we can always do better. Today, they scored early goal and we wanted to equalise," he said.
“We have to stick together, last season we had a period like this and we stuck together and had the confidence to get on. We believe that it will come back. We have to be better than the last game. I wasn’t very good then, so I have to be back at my good level. But I have to get back to my best level.”
Arsenal remain in the Premier League's top four but are already seven points behind leaders Liverpool after they came from a goal down to beat Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield. Champions Manchester City, meanwhile, suffered a surprise defeat at ever-improving Bournemouth.
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