'We deserved to lose today': Arsenal defender Saliba's bold take after 2-1 defeat against Newcastle United
Saliba acknowledged that the team must stay united following an unprecedented loss
Newcastle : Arsenal defender William Saliba said that they deserved to lose against Newcastle United and acknowledged that he needs to return to his "best level."
At the 12th-minute mark of the game, Isak headed the ball past Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya into the back of the net, which proved to be enough for Newcastle United to walk away with all three points.
Arsenal toiled hard but couldn't test Nick Pope at the goalpost enough, who enjoyed an eventful outing for the majority of the match.
Saliba admitted that the team is "sad" after failing to secure three points as they failed to execute the way they wanted to play against a resilient Newcastle United side.
"We are a bit sad because we wanted to win today. But unfortunately, we didn't, and we didn't play the game that we wanted to play. We deserved to lose today, I think," Saliba told TNT Sports, according to Sky Sports.
"We didn't play how we wanted to pay they were good as well. Today, we don't deserve to win. But that's ok. We focus on the next week," he added.
Newcastle crafted a goal out of nothing when Anthony Gordon produced arguably the cross of the season after receiving the ball from Longstaff.
The young starlet produced a delicious cross into the box. Isak did well by evading Gabriel and heading the ball into the box.
"It's a good goal, a good cross, good finishing. But we can always do better. Today, they scored an early goal, and we wanted to equalise," he noted.
Saliba admitted that the team needs to stick together after conceding an unprecedented loss and bounce back in their upcoming fixtures.
"We have to stick together, last season we had a period like this, and we stuck together and had the confidence to get on. We believe that it will come back," he said.
"We have to be better than the last game. I wasn't very good then, so I have to be back at my good level. But I have to get back to my best level," Saliba added.