Arteta complains about ‘tricky’ Carabao Cup ball as Arsenal fail to ‘adapt’ in Newcastle defeat

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the Carabao Cup match ball is “very different to a Premier League ball”, which resulted in missed chances against Newcastle United.

The Gunners were stunned by the Magpies on Tuesday night, losing their Carabao Cup first leg 2-0 at the Emirates.

Goals in either half from Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon give Arsenal a mountain to climb ahead of the second leg at St James’ Park on February 5.

It could have been so much different for Arteta and his players had it not been for that pesky Carabao Cup match ball.

Yep, the Arsenal boss was upset with how the Carabao Cup ball flies and believes his players failed to “adapt”.

“We kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot so there’s details that we can do better,” he told a post-match press conference.

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“But at the end that’s gone – there’s no way back, it’s about the next game and that’s our world, the reality is our world.

“It’s just half-time. When I see the team play, and how we deal with a lot of situations and play against a very good team, I must say I have full belief that we can go out there and do it.”

Arsenal had no problems scoring in the competition before Tuesday evening, bagging 11 goals in three 2024/25 Carabao Cup ties in prior to the defeat.

Expanding on his point about the Puma ball, not Nike like in the Premier League, the Spanish manager added: “It’s just different.

“It’s very different to a Premier League ball, and you have to adapt to that because it flies different.

“When you touch it the grip is very different as well, so you adapt to that.”

Teams train using the Carabao Cup ball in preparation for matches in the competition and Newcastle had no problems finding the target with it.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe admitted his side ‘rode their luck’ but was high in praise of goalscorer Isak – who has been relentlessly linked with a transfer to Arsenal.

“Very pleased with the players. It was a tough game for us in many respects. We had players struggling at half-time. Really pleased with how we played,” he said.

“First half he (Isak) was electric and I thought he played really well. He scored and his general game was in a really good place.

“He was feeling his hamstring a bit at half-time so we had to manage him in the second half and that was a big blow to our performance.

“I think we rode our luck at times and I think Martin [Dubravka] played really well and made some really good saves.

“For the set-plays, in the main, we got the small details right. Our mentality to defend our goal with the blocked shots, the heroic pieces of defending that we saw in the last 20 to 30 minutes… it’s great for us for the future.”

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