Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat in the hands of Newcastle United on Tuesday night in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at the Emirates.
Alexander Isak’s goal put the Magpies ahead on 37 minutes before the in-form Anthony Gordon doubled the away side’s lead on 51 minutes to the delight of the travelling fans.
With Arsenal now having a lot to do in the second leg, Mikel Arteta, 42, was not pleased with his side’s result and seemingly ‘blamed’ the ball as part of the reason Arsenal lost.
Arsenal had 23 shots but just three on target, with Gabriel Martinelli striking the post as well as William Saliba and Kai Havertz passing up clear goalscoring opportunities.
Alexander Isak scores his Newcastle’s first goal during the Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg match against Arsenal (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Speaking after the game, Arteta described how the Carabao Cup ball can be “tricky” seemingly explaining how this may have influenced Arsenal’s poor finishing.
“We kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better,” he said.
“But at the end that’s gone – there’s no way back, it’s about the next game and that’s our world, the reality is our world.
“It’s just half-time. When I see the team play, and how we deal with a lot of situations and play against a very good team, I must say I have full belief that we can go out there and do it.”
The ball used in the competition is manufactured by Puma, while the Premier League ball is made by Nike.
“It’s just different,” said Arteta when asked to elaborate on his comments regarding the ball.
“It’s very different to a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies different.
“When you touch it, the grip is very different as well, so you adapt to that.”
Arsenal take on Manchester United in the FA Cup third round and once again, Arsenal players and Arteta will have to contend with a different ball, with the competition using the Mitre Ultimax Pro ball.
