Mikel Arteta Slammed for Touchline Behaviour During Newcastle Draw

• Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was slammed for his behaviour on the touchline on Tuesday
• The Gunners dropped precious points but still went eight points clear atop the EPL table
• Arteta cut a frustrated figure and believes his side should have been awarded a penalty

Mikel Arteta’s touchline antics have earned him some criticism online, after Arsenal’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle United on Tuesday, January 4.

The Magpies put out a dogged performance to thoroughly frustrate the league leaders, as they came out with a deserved point at the Emirates Stadium.

There were some contentious moments in the game however, and none was more significant than an incident late in the second half.

As the game was meandering towards a stalemate, Granit Xhaka's cross hit Jacob Murphy on the arm - and Arsenal players were adamant it should have been a penalty.

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But referee Andy Madley overlooked the incident, leading to the Gunners' boss having a mini-meltdown on the touchline.

Footage of the incident shows an animated Arteta jumping up and down while flapping his arms, before tapping his arms as if to tell Madley that there was a handball in the box.

The drama did not end there, as the Arsenal tactician then approached the fourth official to argue his case, which led to Eddie Howe confronting Arteta.

Here as some reactions from fans following the incident:

“Seriously - when is someone going to get control of Mikel Arteta? He’s an embarrassment. Totally out of control during games,” @richardajkeys said.

“Look what happens when one decision goes against arsenal forgetting all refs normally favour arsenal,” @SamJarv84686383 added.

“Just a reminder that Jesse Marsch got sent off for half what Mikel Arteta did on the sideline today. Just shows the perks of being a “big 6” manager,” @sinisterra_SZN chimed in.

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Stats back Arsenal to win

Sports Brief also reported on an interesting statistic which suggests Arsenal will go on to win the Premier League title.

With the Gunners sitting top of the table with more than 40 points, ESPN revealed no club had failed to win the league from this position.

However, Arsenal has failed to win the title twice despite leading the EPL at Christmas, in the 2002/2003 and 2007/2008 seasons respectively.