Laura Woods hits back at Eddie Howe's Arsenal complaints with epic response

Laura Woods had an epic response to Eddie Howe complaining about Arsenal's tactics in their defeat on Sunday.

Newcastle succumbed to Mikel Arteta's team at St. James' Park as the Gunners secured a big 2-0 win.

Goals from Martin Odegaard and Fabian Schar (own goal) saw Arsenal move just one point behind league leaders Manchester City.

As for Newcastle, they remain in third spot in the table as they look to qualify for the Champions League.

The defeat, though, left a sour taste in Howe's mouth as he slammed Arsenal's tactics, pinpointing the breaks in play.

"They managed the game well from their perspective. They slowed it down, lots of breaks in play, which was frustrating for us," he said in his post-match press conference.

"Naturally, we wanted the ball in play more. Especially when you’re chasing the game.

"But we have to look at what we can control. We can’t control that. That’s the referee’s job.

"What we can control is taking our chances and possibly defending better than we did today."

Arsenal fan Woods hit back at Howe's claim as she highlighted his side's numbers from his season, which reveals Newcastle are bottom in a series of damning statistics.

Arsenal players celebrate their win against Newcastle United. Image: Alamy

She said: "Howe was referencing the lack of time the ball was in play – which is a big problem across the league.

"But particularly with Newcastle... this stat has cropped up across social media over the weekend."

Woods added: "The stat is how long each team spends with the ball in play this season (on average). Newcastle are bottom with 52 per cent.

"Average delay before restarting play... Newcastle are second from bottom. Brentford are bottom of that one.

"Average delay time before goal kicks... Newcastle are bottom with 36.8 minutes.

"Lots of people are saying, 'Hang on a minute, this is a bit hypocritical'.

"Especially regarding the 0-0 draw at the Emirates earlier this season. I went to that game and there was a lot of controversy about time-wasting.

"So I think Arsenal maybe played them at their own game."

Topics: Eddie Howe, Newcastle United, Football, Laura Woods

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar is a journalist at SPORTbible. He graduated from Bath Spa University with a BA in Media Communications. He's a combat sport aficionado and has contributed to MMA websites AddictedMMA and CagePotato. Nasir has covered some of the biggest fights, while interviewing the likes of Conor McGregor, Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Darren Till. He's also an avid Bristol City fan.

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