04 January 2023 , 11:58
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Oleksandr Zinchenko was filmed shouting "f***'s sake" in frustration during Arsenal's goalless draw against Newcastle on Tuesday night.
The Gunners were held at the Emirates after failing to beat the toughest defence in the Premier League, which has leaked just 11 goals in 18 games this season. The result could have a significant impact on Arsenal's pursuit of a first league title in 19 seasons.
Zinchenko was clearly frustrated by Newcastle's apparent time-wasting and expressed his feelings in the direction of fourth official Jarred Gillett, who was also on the receiving end of a Mikel Arteta rant. Despite the protests, Newcastle escaped London with a point.
An Arsenal fan caught Zinchenko's X-rated reaction on camera during the second half. It was a frustrating night for the Gunners, who registered 17 attempts and boasted 67 per cent of the possession, with Newcastle committing 16 fouls to break up the play.
Arsenal also had two penalty appeals turned down. Dan Burn's shirt pull on Gabriel Magalhaes went unpunished, as did Jacob Murphy's alleged handball late on. The first appeal was a fair shout, whereas Murphy did not appear to deliberately handle the ball.
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Arteta reacted angrily to referee Andy Madley's decision not to penalise Murphy. He would have also been disappointed with the lack of additional time, with just seven minutes added on in total. Darren Bent was among those to notice Newcastle's apparent time-wasting.
Oleksandr Zinchenko's frustration reached boiling point on Tuesday night (Twitter@https://twitter.com/12kiyo15)
The Ukrainian was annoyed by Newcastle's apparent timewasting (Twitter@https://twitter.com/12kiyo15)Do you think Arsenal were hard done by on Tuesday night? Let us know in the comments below!
"Madley awful performance today," tweeted the former Tottenham striker, who is an Arsenal fan. "I can see how Newcastle have only conceded 11 goals this season, so organised - [a] little bit crafty with the time wasting. But [we're] still eight points clear."
Manchester City can cut Arsenal's lead to five points if they beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night. A frustrated Arteta told reporters: "I'm really proud. The way we played, the way we dominated the game. The approach that we had from the beginning.
"We lacked that spark in the final third to find the opening to find the right moment an extra pass and a little bit of finishing quality but we had a lot of situations in and around the box to do better. There were two scandalous penalties."
Yet Arteta was not interested in discussing Madley's performance. When asked if he had spoken to the referee, he simply replied "no". When pressed further, the Arsenal manager added: "He has the whistle, so has control. I'm not here to talk about referees."
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, meanwhile, was delighted with his team's resilient performance. He told reporters: "It was a very good defensive display and great mentality from the group. You saw good teamwork and a collective effort."
Howe added: "I thought we were resilient, dogged and brilliantly defended all areas of the pitch collectively. Our defensive performances have been very good and that's full credit to everyone... we certainly gave them a good game."