Arsenal’s top four aspirations took a huge hit, as they faced a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on Monday evening. The Gunners have lost two successive games, as they find themselves two points behind Spurs, with just one game to spare. This means that Arsenal will have to more or less settle for a Europa League spot this season. Mikel Arteta, manager of Arsenal was critical of his players’ performances and refused to defend them after a lacklustre outing.

Newcastle United have turned around their fortunes in the final quarter of the season. The hosts outplayed Arteta’s men in a 2-0 victory. The Spanish manager accepted the fact that Newcastle were better than his side in every single department on Monday evening. He stated that despite knowing the significance of this fixture, his team failed to turn up, and instead put on a poor show.

“Newcastle were one hundred times better than us in every department from the beginning to the end and it’s hard to accept to accept, but you have to accept it and that’s the reality of what happened today on that pitch,” said Arteta, as quoted by Express UK.

“We knew [the significance of the game] but we didn’t cope with it. It’s a really tough night. Normally, I can sit here and I can defend, but what we’ve done today, it’s not easy,” he added.

For Arsenal to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in six seasons, they must hope for a Spurs defeat in the final fixture of the season. Arsenal will host Everton, who are themselves engaged in the relegation battle. The Gunners missed out on a golden opportunity to book a UCL berth, given that they had gone on a four-match winning run, prior to the North London Derby loss.