Arteta vents fury at 'embarrassing' Newcastle winner vs Arsenal

Mikel Arteta did not mince his words when assessing Newcastle's winner against Arsenal.

The Magpies triumphed 1-0 at St James' Park courtesy of a 64th-minute strike from Anthony Gordon, although the goal has been shrouded in controversy.

VAR spent four minutes trying to determine whether it was a legal effort, checking whether Joe Willock had carried the ball out, a potential foul by Joelinton on Gabriel Magalhaes and — finally — if Gordon was offside.

The officials eventually declared there was no sufficient evidence to rule out the strike, which prompted a furious rant from Arteta.

After the game, the Arsenal boss told the BBC: "I have praised my players for the way they played and competed in this stadium against this team. The result should not be what it is — there are many reasons for that.

"If there was a team looking to win the game today it was Arsenal. Embarrassing what happened, how this goal stands in the Premier League, this league we say is the best in the world. 

"I've been 20 years in this country and now I feel ashamed. It's a disgrace and there's too much at stake here. We are trying to do incredible things and be at the highest level each week. 

"When we're not good enough I hold my hands up and take responsibility. 

"The outcome is nowhere near the level this league needs to have and the way this league is getting competed in. It's not good enough. I feel embarrassed to be part of this."

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya — who failed to clear Willock's initial cross towards Gordon — also touched on the subject after the match.

He said: "We are all frustrated. My point of view is I saw the ball going out of play. I think it is a foul on Gabriel, he [Joelinton] pushes him on the back and the decision was it wasn't a foul. 

"I don't think it was supposed to go that way. And in my opinion it was offside. We are very, very disappointed."