Mikel Arteta was left complaining about the balls used in the Carabao Cup after his side's first-leg loss to Newcastle. The Gunners have been left with a mountain to climb after a 2-0 home defeat, with his side guilty of some wasteful finishing over the 90 minutes.
Gabriel Martinelli went clean through in the first half before blasting against the post, while the likes of Jurrien Timber, Jorginho, and Kai Havertz missed good chances.
The visitors however, were resolute, and also clinical when they did break forward as Alexander Isak smashed a shot high into the net before the interval, with Anthony Gordon tapping in from close range after half-time.
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But afterwards, Arteta offered an explanation to his team's lack of composure in front of goal. He cited the fact that the competition doesn't use the same balls as the top-flight as a reason for their struggles.
"It's just different, very different to a Premier League ball and you have to adapt to that because it flies differently," he said. "When you touch it the grip is very different as well so you have to adapt."
Arteta's weird gripe is unlikely to buy him much sympathy, given the hosts still had the opportunities to reduce the deficit and the fact Newcastle played with exactly the same ball and had no complaints.
Havertz, for example, had a free header from point-blank range at 2-0, only for the ball to come off his shoulder as he completely mistimed his jump.
Martinelli also volleyed another chance over late on, but when asked if there was anything he could do to improve their finishing, Arteta was defiant. And he repeated his observation that the balls didn't help matters.
"Nothing," he replied. "Just try and show them, give them tips on what we can do better. I think we kicked a lot of the balls over the bar and it's tricky because this ball flies a lot, and we discussed that as well.
"We were unlucky in moments. You need a certain luck for the ball to bounce there. You need that intuition as well, and if not, we're going to have to generate more. That's the thing that we can do."
The second leg of the tie takes place at St James' Park on Wednesday, February 5. And Arteta insisted his team still believe they are capable of making the final at Wembley and going on to lift a first trophy in five years.
"It’s just half time and when I see the team playing and how we dealt with a lot of situations and playing against a very good team," he said. "I must say, I have full belief that we can go up there and do it."
