Arsenal suffered a difficult defeat to Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final. They were scored against by a player wearing the number 14 shirt. And then, when Anthony Gordon scored the winning goal for the Magpies, he had a celebration reminiscent of Thierry Henry. These are all reminders that make The Gunners fans yearn for a real striker.
Overall, the Gunners' performance at home at the Emirates was extremely poor. Their wasted chances were the main reason for the 0-2 defeat, making the return leg much more difficult.
Alexander Isak has shown Arsenal what a complete striker can do on the pitch. The Swede has a long way to go to match Henry, but on his current form, Isak is one of the best strikers in the Premier League.
"Newcastle had two chances and Isak took them and scored. That's what you get when you have real quality up front," admitted Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta.
The calls for Arsenal to gamble in the transfer market on Isak or a similar striker will only grow louder, especially as the Gunners continue to miss out on clear-cut chances.
Arteta's side finished the game with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.12, the highest number by a Premier League side in any game this season without scoring.
Just looking at the statistics shows Arsenal's wastefulness. With all the chances, out of 23 shots, Arsenal only had 3 on target.
"If you look at what both teams did, the result doesn't reflect the whole game. The reality is that Newcastle were very effective with the chances they had, and we weren't," said Arteta.
Isak has now scored 50 goals for Newcastle in all competitions since his debut in August 2022. Among Premier League players, only Erling Haaland (105) and Mohamed Salah (73) have scored more goals in all competitions than Isak in that time.
Since the 1987-88 season, nine teams have enjoyed a two-goal lead after winning the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final away from home. Of those, eight have reached the final.
Reflecting on that, Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: "It's a great return and I think every team needs a good striker."
Immediately after Isak was substituted in the 65th minute due to injury concerns, Arteta glanced towards the Newcastle technical area. Perhaps the Spaniard was thinking about something...
