sport news Arsenal were toothless in a battle they should have won against Newcastle trends now

Arsenal were toothless in a battle they should have won as Mikel Arteta pays the price for allowing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leave without a replacement after the Gunners see top-four hopes dashed against Newcastle Arsenal saw their top four hopes dashed with a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United A Ben White own goal and Bruno Guimaraes's late strike saw the Magpies win Arsenal knew they needed to beat Newcastle in their top-four hunt but failed The Gunners were toothless in a Premier League battle they should have won Without Eddie Nketiah, Arsenal would already be consigned to Europa League

By Craig Hope for the Daily Mail

Published: 22:06 BST, 16 May 2022 | Updated: 22:06 BST, 16 May 2022

View
comments

Tottenham have Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min. Arsenal have Eddie Nketiah, a rookie with nine Premier League goals across five seasons. Out of contract, he will also likely be leaving the club this summer.

That was the hand Mikel Arteta chose to play when, without a replacement, he allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave for Barcelona in February.

Nketiah, for the record, has performed manfully in recent weeks. Without his pair of braces against Chelsea and Leeds, Arsenal would already be consigned to Europa League football. They, however, are his only Premier League goals of the campaign.

Newcastle dashed Arsenal's top-four hopes with a 2-0 victory at St James's Park on Monday

Mikel Arteta (above) allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave without a replacement

Without Eddie Nketiah (left) Arsenal would already be consigned to Europa League football

If Arsenal are to qualify for the Champions League - and that looks incredibly unlikely now - it would always have been despite those deployed in the central-striking role this season, not because of them. For that, Arteta