Newcastle vs Arsenal Mikel Arteta hopes PGMOL row is a thing of the past

Mikel Arteta has said he could not watch again Anthony Gordon‘s controversial goal from Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle last season, but believes there is no lasting damage from his subsequent clash with PGMOL.

Arsenal return to St James’ Park on Saturday almost exactly a year after losing 1-0 as Gordon’s 64th-minute strike sparked a furious reaction from Arteta, who called the incident “embarrassing” and a disgrace as the goal survived three separate VAR checks.

Arteta was subsequently charged by the Football Association with inappropriate behaviour, but was later cleared by an independent panel.

Asked if there were any ongoing consequences from the whole episode, Arteta said: “No, hopefully we’re over it. We talked through it in depth and it’s done. It’s a year. A year in football is a long, long time.

“Every club has its history and they have games and situations and comments. It’s part of the game and we have to understand it as it is.

“Every decision I make, I will be criticized, otherwise no one will understand, or they will understand and praise it. There will always be opinions about our job, that’s normal.”

Pushed on whether he had seen Gordon’s goal back in the build-up to Saturday’s game, Arteta replied: “I didn’t stop at that sequence! I didn’t want to go through it. It’s already on my hard drive, so I didn’t. want to go through it again.”

Arteta confirmed Martin Ødegaard is still out with an ankle injury, Ben White have doubts about a “joint” complaint but Gabriel Magalhães expected to recover from a knee problem.

“We have a training session today,” Arteta added. “If he (Gabriel) is able to complete it, he will be available. He hasn’t had any training sessions yet, but if he can do it today, he will be available in the squad.”