Arteta admits Arsenal "nowhere near Champions League level" after top four blow

Mikel Arteta confessed that his Arsenal side were "nowhere near" the level required to play in the Champions League as they were beaten by Newcastle.

The Gunners boss knew his side needed to claim three points on their trip to the north east if they were to jump back above Tottenham into the final Champions League spot. Their rivals had played 24 hours earlier and saw off Burnley, but needed a favour from the Magpies.

They got it as the north London outfit put in a poor display to lose for the 13th time in the Premier League. Successive losses have handed the initiative to Tottenham and Arteta now needs a favour from Norwich City on the final day if he is to guide his team into the Champions League.

He told Sky Sports : "It's extremely disappointing that Newcastle were 10 times better than us and the performane was nowhere near the level we need to be at if we want to play in the Champions League.

"I am incredibly disappointed. It's a very painful one. It was in our hands and today it's not in our hands. We have to beat Everton and wait for Norwich to beat Spurs. There's always a tiny chance in football."

"Newcastle deserved to win the match and were much better than us. We had nothing in the game. They were much better in every department and we were poor with the ball. A lot of things happened during the game, like substitutions for injuries, but it's not an excuse because they were much better than us.

"It's true that we could not cope with the game that we had to play here. We tried to change some things but it didn't make it better. We had moments where we looked better but then the execution was so poor and the goals we gave away were extremely poor."

Arsenal were well below par in the opening 45 but went in level at the interval. The deadlock was broken after 55 minutes though as Ben White put the ball into his own net. The centre-half had Callum Wilson bearing down and saw his touch take the ball past Aaron Ramsdale. Bruno Guimarães - a man linked with a January move to the Emirates - made the game safe with five minutes remaining.

Arteta saw his side lose the rescheduled north London derby last week which gave Tottenham a much needed boost. The Gunners were beaten 3-0 with ten men and that reverse was compounded by the defeat at St James' Park. Arsenal had been hoping to recover from three defeats in their opening three games but now look set to miss out on the top four.