Mikel Arteta fumed in his post-match interview following Arsenal's 3-0 defeat to Spurs that leaves the Gunners just one point clear in fourth place.
The Gunners started the game on the front foot but soon fell behind after Cedric was deemed to have fouled Heung-Min Son in the penalty area, with Harry Kane converting from the spot to give Spurs a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Rob Holding was then sent off by referee Paul Tierney for a second bookable offence after the defender blocked Son's run through towards goal to the frustration of Arteta.
Kane added a second shortly after the sending off, before Son wrapped up the win for the hosts two minutes into the second half to make it 3-0. Arsenal's night got even worse as Gabriel had to come off injured with a suspected hamstring injury that could see the Brazilian miss the remaining two games of the season.
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After the game, Arteta was clearly frustrated with the performance of referee Paul Tierney but refused to reveal his thoughts, fearing he would be given a suspension for his comments. The Gunners boss said: "If I say what I think I am suspended six months.
"I am allowed to give my interpretation of what I thought, but I do not like to lie. I cannot say what I think, I will be suspended.
I am so proud of my players, ask the referee to come here and explain his decisions. That's his decision, such a beautiful game was destroyed here."
Arteta continued to paint a frustrated figure when speaking about Holding's sending off and why he did not bring on Ben White. The Spaniard continued: "The decision is made, I cannot change it.
"The referee has to make the decision and react in football. To take the risk in the situation didn't make any sense.
"Now we focus on Newcastle. That's our focus, this game is history."
Arteta also gave an update on the fitness of Gabriel after the defender had to be substituted with a suspected hamstring injury. Arteta said: "He [Gabriel] felt something, hopefully he will be fit for Monday, and hopefully we can recover Gabi as obviously we don't have enough players in the back.
"This game is history for us. Now it is Newcastle.
"We know how it went out of our hands and we accept it. Now we go to Newcastle and be the team you saw right from the beginning in this stadium.
When asked if the players are feeling flat following the disappointing result, Arteta said: "No no, this is very acceptable, we lost a football match in the conditions that we lost, it's painful but that pain cannot be sustained as we have a huge match on Monday. Now I talk about the excitement of playing Newcastle."
Finally, the Spaniard was asked what this means for the race to finish in the top four. Arteta commented: "We have two games to play, each of us, it's in our hands and now we have to do our job. What we showed from today in this stadium [on what to do on Sunday]."
