‘They did that’: Newcastle player sends message on Arsenal tactics
Dan Burn, a defender for Newcastle, says that he has no issues with the tactics used by Arsenal during their match on Sunday, which they lost to the Gunners. Arsenal won 2-0, and had they lost or drawn, it would have made it easier for Manchester City to secure the title. The match was highly competitive.
By winning the match, Arsenal harmed Newcastle’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
The game was marked by frequent interruptions and aggressive confrontations, which prevented the home team from finding their flow.
This was similar to the way Newcastle had played during the previous match against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in January, where they had been accused of disrupting Arsenal’s rhythm.
But, asked about Arsenal’s approach, Burn said: “Of course it’s frustrating, but that’s what they said we did at their place. We get a lot of stick for slowing the game down, which I don’t know if we intentionally do all the time.
“They did that, but it’s part and parcel of football. We can’t do it and then complain when it happens to us.
“A lot of teams tend to do that now when they feel the energy of the crowd, they try and stifle it a little bit.
“When a team like Arsenal is coming here and doing that, it’s a compliment.”
Newcastle had high expectations of replicating their previous season’s 2-0 home victory against Arsenal.
The home crowd was eagerly anticipating a potential early goal, which could have been possible had Jacob Murphy’s shot not hit the post or if referee Chris Kavanagh hadn’t been asked to review his decision to award a penalty for handball against Jakub Kiwior.
However, Newcastle’s hopes were dashed by Martin Odegaard’s first-half goal and Fabian Schar’s own goal, which proved to be unfortunate for the home team.
Burn said: “We knew it wasn’t going to be the same as last season, where we played them off the park. They’re a lot better this year and they’ve shown that all season.
“They’ve been unlucky that City have overtaken them, but they’re a very good team who caused us problems, especially at home. We’re just unfortunate we couldn’t get the win.”
After Manchester United lost to West Ham, Newcastle still holds a two-point lead in third place with four games left to play. However, both Liverpool and Brighton are making determined efforts to catch up and challenge Newcastle’s position.
‘They did that’: Newcastle player sends message on Arsenal tactics