Arsenal became just the second team this season to beat Newcastle United at St. James' Park on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors secured a 2-0 victory thanks to a first-half Martin Odegaard strike and an own goal from defender Fabian Schar after the break. The result meant that the Gunners have now mathematically secured a top-two finish in the Premier League this season whilst also keeping their slim chances of winning the title alive.
But Magpies boss Eddie Howe was left unimpressed by how little the ball was in play on Sunday, hinting that Mikel Arteta's side may have been time-wasting throughout the game. "It was frustrating from our perspective", Howe said at full-time.
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"We wanted the ball the play, we wanted to find our rhythm. It was very stop-start. That was suiting, of course, the away team. As the home team, you want the ball in play, so it was frustrating in that sense for us, definitely.
"They managed the game well from their perspective. They slowed it down, lots of breaks in play, frustrating for us. Naturally, we wanted the ball in play more especially when you are chasing the game.
"But we have to look at what we can control. We can’t control that, that’s the referee’s job. What we can control is our ability to take our chances, and possibly defend better than we did today."
But statistics from Opta, via the Express, have actually shown that Newcastle rank bottom of the league when it comes to taking a goal kick after the ball goes out, averaging 36.8 seconds in this regard. Similarly, Brentford (31.4 seconds) are the only team in the English top flight that take longer than the Tyneside-based club (29.9 seconds) to restart a match following any delay.
In fact, the ball is in play just 52% of the time during Newcastle matches this term, the lowest percentage of any team in the division, as per Opta Stats. Ironically, Howe has also played down talk of time-wasting from his side in the past, notably after they drew 0-0 with Arsenal in the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium back in January.
"We are not here to be popular and to get other teams to like us," he said after it emerged that the ball has been in play for just 51 minutes and 23 seconds at the game in north London. "We are here to compete and to compete, we have to give everything to try and get a positive result.
"I’ve got no issue saying that. That is our job and that’s what we’re going to try and continue to do."
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