“Genuinely pathetic”, “Doesn’t play against big teams” - Fans blast Arsenal star for being ‘dead’ in defeat at Newcastle 

Arsenal fans slammed Bukayo Saka after he failed to have an impact during the Gunners' 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United at St. James' Park on Saturday, November 4.

The Premier League clash between both remained in the balance in the first half. Kai Havertz was arguably fortunate not to be given a straight red card after a reckless tackle on Sean Longstaff in the 37th minute.

Newcastle broke the deadlock in the 64th minute after Joe Willock kept Jacob Murphy's cross in play on the left. The former crossed the ball into the box, resulting in Anthony Gordon tapping home into an empty net after Joelinton contested Gabriel Magalhaes for the ball.

VAR officials had a lengthy check of the goal, checking three elements of play. Questions were raised on whether Willock had gotten the ball before it crossed the line, whether Joelinton had fouled Gabriel, and if Gordon was offside.

Much to Arsenal's dismay, the goal was given, securing all three points for the Magpies. The Gunners are now third in the standings with 24 points from 11 games.

Arsenal fans were unhappy with Saka's performance. The 22-year-old winger failed to create any chances, had zero shots on target, and completed zero successful dribbles.

In addition, Saka was also dispossessed thrice and lost five duels. One fan posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Saka genuinely pathetic today and for a few weeks now."

Another fan wrote:

"Saka doesn’t play against big teams"

"Oi Saka fanbois, Odegaard isn’t playing and not invading Saka’s space what is your excuse today? Salah has to win several trophies and break several records to earn that huge contract and what has Saka done to earn his?"

Despite his poor outing today, Saka has had a stellar season to date, scoring five goals and providing six assists in 14 appearances across all competitions.

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Newcastle United vs Arsenal: Exploring the stats from Premier League clash

Arsenal's unbeaten start in the Premier League came to an abrupt end after they suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United on Saturday. Let's take a look at the stats to see how both teams performed.

Mikel Arteta and Co. dominated possession with 60 percent of the ball. They also completed 486 passes with an accuracy of 80 percent. In contrast, Newcastle had 40 percent possession and registered 336 passes with an accuracy of 79 percent.

Arsenal had a total of 14 shots, however, they failed to make the most of their chances, landing just one shot on target. On the other hand, the Magpies had nine shots in total with two being on target.