Antony Gordon’s controversial second half strike for Newcastle was enough to hand Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal their first Premier League defeat of the season.

The former Everton player forced the ball into David Raya’s net in 64th minute – but the Gunners were furious that VAR failed to rule the goal out due to the ball being out of play earlier in the move. It also appeared that defender Gabriel was fouled on the line prior to the goal.

The loss sees the North Londoners drop to third place, after Manchester City hit top spot after thrashing Bournemouth 6-1 earlier in the day.

So. Apart from the ball being out of play, a foul on Arsenal defender Gabriel and an offside VAR have given the goal to Newcastle. Shocking. Absolutely shocking

— Layth (@laythy29) November 4, 2023

Find out who impressed with the Gooner Fanzine’s Player Ratings

Arsenal Player Ratings:

David Raya: 5/10 - Back in a first choice for the underwhelming Aaron Ramsdale who did his cause no favours during the 3-1 defeat at West Ham

Ben White: 5/10 - Ditched the blond highlights after his own goal at West Ham as he marked his 100th Arsenal appearance with a clean sheet at a raucous St James’

William Saliba: 6/10 - A class act 

Gabriel: 6/10 - Effective positioning at times forced the Magpies forward line wider than they would have liked. Fouled for the goal after a push in the back which should have seen VAR rule out Gordon’s goal

Takehiro Tomiyasu: 6.5/10 - Another good performance in challenging conditions

Kai Havertz: 5.5/10 - Booked for a late challenge on Sean Longstaff that was the catalyst for three Newcastle players to be booked following their theatrical overreactions

Jorginho: 5/10 - Neat and tidy but also ineffectual when a powerful performance in the heat of battle was required 

Declan Rice: 6.5/10 - Narrowly missed Pope’s far post with a powerful second half header

Bukayo Saka: 6/10 - Not as influential as he would have liked but wasn’t lack of trying

Eddie Nketiah: 5/10 - Made his 100th Premier League appearance in Arsenal colours but failed to build on last weekend’s hattrick against the sorry Blades in the St James’ Park cauldron  

Gabi Martinelli: 5.5/10 - Forced Nick Pope into a save at his near post late in the first half. Never stopped attempting to unsettle the Newcastle backline

VAR: 0/10 - A scandalous decison to allow Gordon's bundled - and bungled - goal to stand

Substitutes:

Olexsandr Zinchenko: 5/10 - Replaced Ben White on 73

Leandro Trossard: 5/10 - On for the underwhelming Nketiah on 78 minutes

Fabio Vieira: 5/10 - Came on for Jorginho as part of Arteta’s double substitution with 12 minutes remaining