Mikel Arteta is confident that Arsenal will overcome their 2-0 deficit against Newcastle United and reach the final of the League Cup.
Goals from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon have given Newcastle a healthy cushion ahead of the return fixture at St James’ PArk on February 5.
Arteta says the Gunners are more than capable of pulling themselves back into the tie.
“There’s a long way [to go], it’s just half-time,” said Arteta. “It’s very disappointing because the performance and dominance in the game doesn’t reflect the scoreline unfortunately. We could have done better in the two goals that we conceded and with the amount of shots and situations that we generated, we should have scored at least two or three goals.”
He added: “With the scenario that we have which has been very tricky, we perform and produce what we can in the game so no excuses about that. Let’s move on, it’s just half-time. The team showed today that we can go up there and win the game in the manner that we need to in order to be in the final.”
Arsenal will next face Manchester United in a FA Cup third-round clash against on Sunday, and Arteta is keen to get to work to analyse the Newcastle game and make sure that they return to winning ways against one of their traditional rivals.
“We’ll focus on the performance of today; what we have done, why we didn’t win the game and understand that and make improvements as with every game, and recharge. We need a lot of energy, we have a big game here against Man United in a different competition, so let’s move on.
“You have to turn things around. Today it was a night that was really important. As I said before, I don’t think the performance and dominance reflect the result, and you have to take it. It’s frustrating, but that’s football,” commented Arteta.
