Mikel Arteta speaks out on Arsenal fans leaving early in Newcastle defeat and makes his feelings very clear

Mikel Arteta has made his feelings clear on Arsenal fans leaving early against Newcastle United during their crushing Carabao Cup defeat.

Arsenal succumbed to Newcastle in their semi-final first-leg as Eddie Howe's side ran out 2-0 winners at the Emirates on Tuesday.

Alexander Isak opened the scoring before Anthony Gordon doubled his team's advantage to secure a lead ahead of next month's second-leg.

Arteta's men had opportunities as Kai Havertz missed a gilt-edged chance to reduce the deficit.

Before the final whistle, hundreds of Arsenal fans left the Emirates after seeing the Gunners go two-nil down.

Speaking after the result, Arteta wasn't happy with supporters exiting the stadium before the final whistle.

"That’s their decision. We try our best and it’s their decision to stay right behind the team or leave," he told the club's official website.

"I think I repeated 1000 times how important they are and how critical it is to maintain the level of energy and belief in the stadium to generate big moments at the end that we could have had and because we were very close to scoring [and make it] 2-1 and we would have needed that.

"But, that wasn’t the case and that’s not good."

The Emirates for Arsenal vs. Newcastle United. Image: Getty

It's Arsenal's first defeat since November when they lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League.

On the result, Arteta added: "It’s the result. If you look at what both teams produced and the domination of the game, it’s not a result that reflects the story of the game. But the reality is that they were super efficient with the chances that they had and we weren’t, and at this level in these kind of scenarios, you need to impose yourself and win the game."

Arsenal return to action when they face Manchester United in the FA Cup before renewing hostilities with Newcastle on February 5.