Ian Wright makes Arsenal transfer demand after toothless Newcastle loss - 'You've got to'
Arsenal failed to score as they were beaten at the Emirates for the first time since April by Newcastle, who boast a two-goal advantage in their two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final
by Nathan Ridley · The MirrorArsenal legend Ian Wright has urged the club's board to back Mikel Arteta in the January transfer window to save their season.
The Gunners lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final 2-0 at home to Newcastle, their first defeat on home soil since April. Alexander Isak opened the scoring amid reports that he's a long-term target for Arsenal before Anthony Gordon doubled the visitors' lead early in the second half.
Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli both missed guilt-edged opportunities in the loss which has given the Gunners a mountain to climb in round two up at St James' Park. The second leg takes place on February 5 and by then, Wright hopes that Arsenal will have extra firepower in their ranks.
"You've got to look at the board now," the former Gunners striker told ITV. "I don't know what you do but you've got to try and so something."
Wright added: "He [Arteta] needs help. I know it's very difficult to get anything in this January window but he needs something else because if it's gonna carry on like this, it's gonna be very difficult to score. We're not scoring with the corners, we're not scoring with the chances we're making, something needs to change. Something needs to happen.
Arsenal chose not to make any signings last January and went trophy-less for the second season running. The lack of a natural goalscorer such as Isak is becoming more and more evident as Arteta's side falter.
The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton on Saturday, dropping more points in the Premier League title race. Arsenal have a huge run of games coming up, starting with Manchester United at home in the FA Cup on Sunday before welcoming north London rivals Tottenham next Wednesday.
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Arteta will be hoping for a much-improved performance, telling Sky Sports after the defeat: "That was the biggest difference [being clinical] in the game. In every other aspect, we were the better team. They scored two goals and credit to them as they managed to win the game like this.
"When we missed the chances and conceded the goal it is always tough, but the team reacted. We generated a lot of situations, but it is true, they defended the box very well. We can do better with our decisions. We had a one-v-one chance with the 'keeper and in the semi-final you have to be clinical."
Eddie Howe, meanwhile, said: "I think we rode our luck at times and I think Martin [Dubravka] played really well and made some really good saves. I thought the set plays in the main we got the small details right. Our mentality to defend our goal with the blocked shots, the heroic pieces of defending that we saw in the last 20 to 30 minutes, it's great for us for the future."
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