It was a first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal for Arsenal to forget as Alexander Isak's goal and assist powered Newcastle United to a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium, but while Mikel Arteta gave Newcastle credit for their performance,

Mikel Arteta lamented Arsenal’s inefficiency in front of goal compared to Newcastle and Alexander Isak, but backed his players to turn around the 2-0 Carabao Cup deficit – so long as they adapt to the “tricky” ball being used in the competition.

Mikel Arteta has suggested Arsenal's failure to adapt to the Carabao Cup ball was a factor in Tuesday's 2-0 semifinal, first leg defeat to Newcastle United.

Arsenal lost 2-0 at home to Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final and Mikel Arteta believes things could’ve been very different if his side had taken their chances.Newcastle

In between those two moments, to make it worse for Mikel Arteta, Arsenal missed even more chances while Anthony Gordon took one for Newcastle. That was another goal largely against the run of play, and another where Isak’s ability to take the ball and move with it while evading challenges with pure smoothness was so glorious.

Arsenal: Mikel Arteta suggests Carabao Cup match ball a factor in missed chances against Newcastle - Gunners boss insists Puma version is ‘very different’ to Nike ball used weekly in the Premier Leagu

Mikel Arteta has said that Arsenal are "very alert" in the January transfer market after the London club suffered a fresh injury blow with Ethan Nwaneri out for a "few weeks."

Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon goals ensured Newcastle came away victorious against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and Mikel Arteta was left frustrated with one player in particular

Arsenal goalscorer Ethan Nwaneri was substituted at half-time against Brighton & Hove Albion because of a muscular injury, Mikel Arteta has said. The 17-year-old opened the scoring for Arsenal in the first half with a composed finish but Brighton secured a 1-1 draw thanks to Joao Pedro’s penalty,