Arsenal managed to secure passage into the next round of the FA Cup after beating League One side Mansfield 2-1 on Saturday lunchtime. Elsewhere, Manchester City beat Newcastle United and the manager of the latter, Eddie Howe, has sent the Gunners a blunt warning.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring for Mikel Arteta’s men at the One Call Stadium, delightfully steering the ball home with his left foot, before Will Evans bagged an equaliser five minutes after the half-time interval.
Eberechi Eze, a late substitute, was the match-winner in the 66th minute and he spared the blushes of Premier League’s table toppers, who suffered 18 Mansfield shots throughout the match.
Elsewhere, as mentioned, their closest Premier League rivals were also progressing into the next round of the oldest competition in football history by convincingly beating the Magpies 3-1 – but what did Howe say in his post-match press conference?
Eddie Howe sends Arsenal blunt message post-FA cup defeat
Howe now believes that City are returning to their best form under the enigmatic Pep Guardiola. In fact, he claimed they were ‘the best team’ – even without the likes of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri and Erling Haaland – that Newcastle had faced all season.
“I think that they [City] made changes to their team but I think you see the strength in depth that they have and they possess. I think that was probably a step too far for us today against them when they’re in that mood, I thought they were excellent and we fell away in the game.
“We seemed to lose our energy but they do that to you because they keep the ball so well, they make you run, they make you chase, then you’re tired and you make another technical mistake and you’re chasing again.”
“They’ve done that for years. That’s why, for me, they’ve been the best team that we’ve continually faced and today I thought they were in a really good place and we just fell out of energy,” Howe continued.
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“I don’t think it was necessarily a tactical problem for us, it was more the way they play and how good they are technically. They took a stranglehold of the ball and when we got it back we gave it away too easily, maybe looking too vertical and not horizontal enough at times.
“Then as soon as you make a technical mistake against them you’re not seeing the ball again for long periods and then your energy just drains away.
“That’s why they’ve been the best team for so long and I think they’re coming back into the type of form that makes them that team again. They’re evolving into a different version of what they’ve been before but very, very effective.”
Watch Howe’s glittering praise of City below (0:46 onwards):
Howe’s comments could be a cause for concern for Arsenal
Although the Emirates Stadium faithful may view Newcastle’s FA Cup exit as “just another City win”, Howe’s post-match comments could spell trouble for the Gunners and their title pursuit. The fact that Newcastle – a team known for their relentless energy – ran out of gas could prove that City have hit another gear, especially after their chastening 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal once again saw their injuries mount up against Mansfield, what with Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard both hobbling off the pitch injured, and having such a thin squad could be a real test of character.
What the title race could boil down to is when the two sides meet in April: just under a month after they meet in the League Cup final at Wembley, Arsenal and City will go toe-to-toe in the league in what will hopefully be a tasty six-point encounter.
Howe and his entourage – including his right hand man Jason Tindall – have seen both sides up close and personal this season; if he says City are hitting a new level, Arsenal would be wise to listen.
