Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says he is “really proud” of his side, and they should have been awarded two “scandalous” penalties in their goalless draw against Newcastle.
A resilient Magpies display kept the Gunners at bay and brought to an end their 11-game Premier League winning streak at Emirates Stadium.
But Arteta cut a frustrated figure at full-time and said his side were wrongly denied penalties – first when Dan Burn pulled Gabriel back after a free-kick, before Jacob Murphy appeared to handle the ball in the final minutes.
Frustrations were visible at the Emirates as Arteta and his players frantically waved their arms in the air in protest of the decisions, which were both checked by the Video Assistant Referee.
“There were two penalties. It’s very simple. I’m talking about what I’ve seen. It was two scandalous penalties,” said Arteta.
Matthew Upson, part of BBC Radio 5 Live’s commentary of the match, said of the second appeal: “There’s no doubt it strikes the arm but it’s not in an unnatural position and it’s not miles out of the silhouette of the body to attempt to block the ball.”
Former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville agreed with Upson and said the handball was “never a penalty”.
Magpies boss Eddie Howe added it would have been a “travesty” to concede a penalty so late in the game.
“Obviously at that stage of the game you’re thinking ‘oh no, the lads have given so much’, and that would have been a travesty for us. I didn’t think it was a penalty but you just never know,” he said.
However, Neville said that Arsenal can be “aggrieved” at the first decision and Newcastle were “very lucky” to not concede a penalty.
Referee Andy Madley handed out nine yellow cards in a fractious match and the Emirates crowd booed the officials’ performance at half-time.
‘Arsenal can win the league’
Regardless of the penalty decisions, Arsenal struggled to create opportunities against a dogged Newcastle hoping to earn a Champions League spot this season.
“Arsenal ran out of ideas,” Neville said.
The Gunners remain eight points clear of defending champions Manchester City and are undefeated in their last 11 Premier League games.
“Arsenal can win the league, but they will need to go into the transfer market. When are they going to be in this position again? You don’t know,” said Neville.
“They have a small chance of winning the league and if they go big on a striker this window, I think that is how they could win the league.
“Can they find two players who can bolster that squad and change the game, maybe win the game from the squad? It’s a massive few months for Arteta.”
The Arsenal manager said: “If we keep playing like that, performing like that and dominating we will win a lot of matches.”
He added the club will always look to strengthen during a transfer window, with the Gunners heavily linked with Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhailo Mudryk.
“We had what we had,” said Arteta. “We have some injuries as well and attacking areas we don’t have that many options but it is what it is. That’s something we always try to do; to improve our team in every [transfer] window is important.”
Howe praises ‘very good defensive display’
While Arteta may be frustrated with a point, his counterpart Howe was delighted.
“It was a very good defensive display and great mentality from the group,” he said. “You saw good teamwork and a collective effort.”
Newcastle, who are now unbeaten in their last 13 games in the Premier League, have kept six clean sheets in a row in all competitions for only the second time ever, the first time in 1982.
“I thought we were resilient, dogged and brilliantly defended all areas of the pitch collectively. Our defensive performances have been very good and that’s full credit to everyone,” said Howe.
“We want to compete in every game, we don’t want to turn up to grounds like this and not give our best. We competed to win and we didn’t manage to do that but we certainly gave them a good game.
“The next step for us is to have a little bit more quality on the ball but we’re looking to improve all aspects of our game.”
