It was indeed somewhat bizarre that, amongst all things, Mikel Arteta actually brought up the match ball as the culprit aiding and abetting his team\u2019s Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle at the Emirates Stadium.<\/p>\n
For those not in the know, a Puma ball is used for Carabao Cup fixtures whereas a Nike ball is used in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
Arsenal had 23 shots, but only three on target and, when asked about the missed chances, Arteta was unhesitant in his reply: \u2018We also kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there\u2019s details that we can do better.<\/p>\n
\u2018But at the end that\u2019s gone, there\u2019s no way back it’s about the next game and that\u2019s our world, the reality.\u2019<\/p>\n
When pressed further on the issue, Arteta added: ‘No, it’s just different. It’s very different to the Premier League ball and you have to adapt to that.<\/p>\n
‘It flies different… when you touch it, the grip is very different as well so you have to adapt to that.’<\/p>\n
It\u2019s noteworthy that when Arteta was Manchester City assistant manager, Pep Guardiola branded the Mitre ball used in a Carabao Cup last-16 tie victory against Wolves in October 2017, as \u2018highly unacceptable\u2019.<\/p>\n
Isak, who has long been linked to the Gunners, scored a brilliant goal and was also involved in the build-up to Newcastle\u2019s second goal with Anthony Gordon finishing off the striker\u2019s deflected shot.<\/p>\n
On Isak, Arteta added: \u2018The ball arrived to him, he created and had a lot of big chances. He was involved in both goals as well.<\/p>\n
‘Unfortunately the two times he had the ball in the box and that\u2019s what happens when you have real quality up front and they can make the difference, and they\u2019re very clinical.\u2019<\/p>\n
Isak scored his 14th goal in 15 games and the Toons picked up their seventh successive victory as they hunt down a first major domestic trophy in nearly seven decades.<\/p>\n
Eddie Howe was understandably full of praise for his star man, but reflected that Isak had to manage a hamstring issue \u2014 something he will hope is not a problem ahead of the second leg at St James\u2019 Park on February 5.<\/p>\n
He said: \u2018First half he was electric, I thought he played really well. He scored but I just thought his general game was in a really good place.<\/p>\n
\u2018He was feeling his hamstring a bit at half-time so we had to manage him in the second half and that was a big blow to our performance.<\/p>\n
\u2018He\u2019s so important, we can\u2019t risk losing him. Hopefully he\u2019s OK.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"