Eddie Howe holds the belief that Arsenal are among the top teams Newcastle United has encountered this season, reflecting on his side’s 4-1 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
Mikel Arteta’s squad displayed dominance at home, maintaining a two-point gap behind Premier League leaders Liverpool and trailing second-placed Manchester City by just one point, following City’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth earlier on Saturday.
Sven Botman’s own goal and a close-range finish from Kai Havertz propelled Arsenal to a well-deserved lead by halftime, with Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior extending the Gunners’ advantage to four goals by the 69th minute.
In the closing stages of the match against his former club, Joe Willock scored a superb header, offering a consolation goal for Newcastle. The goal came at a time when Newcastle have managed only four wins in their last 13 Premier League games.
Eddie Howe’s reaction to Newcastle defeat against Arsenal
When queried about Arsenal’s potential in the Premier League title race, Howe shared his opinion with beIN Sports.
“Off the back of today I have to say they’re right in it, the title race. They’re definitely one of the best teams we’ve played this season.”
Howe also expressed his frustration with Newcastle’s inconsistency and disclosed that he’s been compelled to field players who are not fully fit due to the squad’s injury problems. Nevertheless, the Magpies will have to use this damaging defeat as a learning curve.
“We’ll take a lot, I’m sure, because we’ll use all the lessons that we can learn from today in a positive way and try to make us better from it.”
With this defeat Newcastle are ten points adrift of fifth place Tottenham Hotspur and seven points behind Manchester United in sixth.
In contrast, the Gunners have closed the gap to Liverpool to two points, and they trail Manchester City by a single point.