“He thinks too big of himself too much and I hate it, I had him in mind before the game I made sure I locked him down without doing anything tangible”- Newcastle defender Lewis Hall made jest of Arsenal star and called him ‘finished’ after claiming he had the easiest of his so far
Newcastle star Lewis Hall says he was proud to keep ‘amazing player’ Bukayo Saka ‘quiet’ in the side’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal.
The Magpies were without a win in their previous five league matches but started strongly at St James’ Park and took the lead through a powerful Alexander Isak header in the 14th minute.
The Gunners simply had no answer and managed just one shot on target across the 90 minutes, with Newcastle holding firm to rise to ninth in the Premier League table.
The result meant Arsenal missed out on the chance to close the gap on title rivals Manchester City. However, Bournemouth did Mikel Arteta’s men a favour with a shock 2-1 defeat of the champions later in the day.
Saka, arguably Arsenal’s standout player this season, was uncharacteristically ineffective in the contest and young Newcastle defender Hall was key in restricting the forward’s influence on the game.
‘It was a really, really good performance from us,’ Hall, who came away with the man-of-the-match award, told TNT Sports shortly after the final whistle.
‘I think we know what they can bring, we saw it all of last season and how competitive they are.
