Arsenal will head to St. James’ Park next month with a two-goal deficit to overturn in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Despite the uphill task, Mikel Arteta remains confident, believing the second leg presents a great opportunity for the Gunners to fight back and secure a spot at Wembley.
Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon’s goals have handed Newcastle United a significant advantage heading into the return leg. However, Mikel Arteta is confident that if Arsenal can replicate the intensity and performance shown in the first leg when they travel to St. James’ Park on February 5, the team is more than capable of turning the tie around.
“There’s a long way [to go], it’s just half-time,” he said post-match. “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.”
“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.”
In a rare scheduling twist, there’s a four-week gap between the first and second legs of this Carabao Cup semi-final. During that time, Arsenal face a series of massive fixtures, including a high-stakes North London Derby, a challenging home clash against Aston Villa, and a showdown with reigning champions Manchester City. These games will test the squad’s depth and resilience ahead of the decisive trip to Tyneside.
Reflecting on the week ahead, Mikel Arteta added that the team must stay focused and take each game as it comes. He emphasized the importance of learning from recent performances, maintaining intensity, and preparing meticulously to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.
He said: “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 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.”
