In the Carabao Cup semifinal, Arsenal's pursuit of honors stumbled against a clinical and efficient Newcastle. The 2-0 defeat left the Gunners with the onerous task of trying to reverse the tie in the second leg but also brought up questions regarding finishing, physical fatigue, and even adapting to an "unusual" ball.
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Mikel Arteta felt the scoreline did not reflect the real story of the match, full of territorial dominance and missed opportunities: "If you look at what both teams produced and the control of the game, it's not a result that reflects the story of the match. But the reality is they were super efficient with the chances they had, and we weren't, and at this level in this type of scenario, you need to impose yourself and win the game".
Between bad luck and lack of precision
Arsenal created volume but not clarity: there were 23 shots, a meager three of them on target. Gabriel Martinelli hit the post in the first half during a moment of collective frustration; Kai Havertz missed a clear chance in the second, heading wide from close range.
While the Gunners failed at critical moments, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon took their chances clinically. Arteta confesses the solution is a mix of change in approach, but also luck: "You need a certain amount of luck for the ball to bounce your way. You need that instinct too, and if not, we'll have to generate more".
Despite the missed opportunities, the coach said it's not the missed chances they had to look at, but the efforts to be made to create even more in the future.
A defeat that isn't definitive
But while the defeat was a setback, Arteta sees the second leg as an opportunity: "It's just halftime, and when I see the team playing and how we handled many situations and playing against a very good team, I have full belief we can go there and do it."
However, the mission requires swift changes in behavior and absolute attention to offensive efficiency, which was lacking in the first leg.
An excuse or a challenge?
Arteta did not use any fatigue-related excuse for the performance of the team, though he gave kudos to an intensive schedule: "It's incredible-they're tireless in how they try in every action, but I don't even want to talk about that. We have so many big games coming up, and the team really wants this".
The coach stressed that the collective effort is there, but underlined that at this level, the small details make the difference. And those details were well done by Newcastle.
Unforeseen factor
Among such technical explanations from Arteta, the one that drew attention was indeed the Carabao Cup ball. According to the coach, its dynamics differ from that of the Premier League, and hence may be influential on finishing: "I think we shot a lot of balls over the crossbar, and it's tricky because this ball flies a lot. We discussed that as well. So there are details we can do better".
He explained the challenge thus: "It's just different, very different from a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to it because it flies different. When you touch it, the grip is also very different, so you have to adapt to that".
The impact of the Emirates crowd
The fact that some supporters left early in the second half was another point Arteta discussed. The coach was straightforward: "That's their decision. We tried our best, and it's their decision to stay behind the team or to leave. And I think a thousand times I've repeated how important they are and how critical it is to maintain the energy and belief in the stadium to create big moments at the end. We were so close to making it 2-1, and we would have needed that, but it didn't happen, and that's not good".
The frustration of the crowd is understandable, but their support will be so important in the second leg, with the need for an expressive scoreline if they are to advance.