Newcastle brutally mock Mikel Arteta after Arsenal boss made embarrassing excuse

Newcastle have trolled Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta following his bizarre comments on the ball used for Carabao Cup matches. The Magpies dumped Arteta's Arsenal out in the semi-finals on Wednesday, having won both legs 2-0. After the first meeting in north London, Arteta claimed that his players found it difficult to get to grips with the Puma-manufactured match ball. It differs from the ball used in Premier League matches which is made by Nike. Arsenal had 23 shots in the first leg worth 3.09 expected goals, yet the Gunners only managed to get three of their efforts on target.

When asked how he could help improve his players' finishing, Arteta replied: "Nothing, just try and show them and give them tips of what we can do better. I think we kicked a lot of the balls over the bar and it's tricky that this ball flies a lot. We discussed that as well, so there are details that we can do better.". Newcastle had no such trouble and the club's social media team evidently didn't forget Arteta's comments. Following the win which sent Eddie Howe's men to Wembley for the second time in three years, where they'll face either Tottenham or Liverpool, the Magpies posted an image of the ball on their social media channels, with the caption reading: "The culprit.".

Their post on X, formerly Twitter, racked up for than 100,000 likes since being posted. It adds insult to injury for Arsenal, who were also seemingly mocked by Newcastle star Anthony Gordon during his post-match interview with Sky Sports. Gordon echoed Erling Haaland's 'stay humble' jibe towards Arteta following Arsenal's fiery 2-2 draw with Manchester City back in September. "It's important for us to stay humble now," the England international.

Who'll join Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final - Tottenham or Liverpool? Give us your prediction in the comments section. Arteta made no mention of the ball after the second leg, admitting: "We had so many expectations to turn this around but we didn't get any momentum despite having some big moments in the first half. We didn't capitalise and the next action they scored. "The game then shifted. We then needed to stay cool to score a goal but we didn't manage to do that. Then in the second half we struggled as the game went by and the game went away from us. When you want to win trophies you need to be effective in the boxes. We have played two games against them and haven't [been effective]. Overall that was the main difference.".

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. Sky has slashed the price of its Sky Sports, Sky Stream, Sky TV and Netflix bundle in a new 'lowest price' deal.