Alexander Isak has addressed his push on Martin Odegaard that occurred just moments before he gave Newcastle the lead against Arsenal on Tuesday night.
The Swedish striker slammed in past David Raya and off the underside of the crossbar after 37 minutes to set Eddie Howe’s in-form side on their way to an impressive 2-0 victory in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie - their seventh win in a row across all competitions as they inflicted a first home defeat on the Gunners since last April.
Such a typically emphatic finish - which saw Isak rifle home after a long Martin Dubravka free-kick was first headed on by Sven Botman and then flicked into his path by Jacob Murphy - saw the 25-year-old continue an incredible goalscoring run that now stands at 15 for the season, including seven in his last five games and 10 in his last nine as he reached 50 for Newcastle in two-and-a-half years.
However, there was a touch of controversy about the red-hot Isak scoring for the fifth match running as television replays appeared to show him delivering a little shove with two hands into the back of Arsenal captain Odegaard just inside the box before latching decisively onto Murphy’s clever flick.
The incident was not seen by referee John Brooks at the time, but was apparently checked and cleared by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Michael Salisbury as the goal stood.
Asked by ITV after the game if he felt that he had gotten away with pushing Odegaard before scoring, Isak said: “I wouldn’t say I got away with it. I think that’s a part of the game, playing a bit on the edge. It’s nothing.”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright felt that Isak had clearly pushed Odegaard as he bemoaned the decision going against his former club.
“It reminds me of what happened to Gabriel Magalhaes up there,” the ex-Gunners striker said in his role as a pundit on ITV. “You have to have two hands on an Arsenal player and foul them to not get anything.”
