Newcastle Boss Rafa Benitez Says His Side Are Giving Everything Despite 1-0 Loss to Arsenal

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has insisted his side are giving everything they've got to turn around their fortunes after a narrow 1-0 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates on Saturday saw them drop into the relegation zone.

A wonderful first-half Mesut Ozil volley was all that separated the sides as Arsenal missed their chances to kill off the game, leaving Newcastle to keep knocking at the door late on in hope of nicking a point. 

Benitez was quoted in his post-match press conference by the Chronicle as having sympathy for the fans that continually chanted his name throughout the duration of the game.

"The fans know what the situation is from September. The main thing for me is to be sure that the team continue working like today. It’s a long season. We are having games where we are losing by one goal now, but they will turn into draws and wins. 

"The difference between some teams in the table is not too big. If we continue doing that we will have a couple of games where we can get better results and gain more confidence."

Benitez commended the effort his players are putting in, saying: "You can’t complain about the work-rate of our players. They’re giving everything. We are where we are and we have what we have. They are working so hard in terms of effort and trying to do things and you can’t complain.

"The only thing is, sometimes in the final third we aren’t lucky enough. We had chances at the end and we stayed in the game and worked hard. To do that means this team is still fighting and the fans appreciated that."

Ozil's moment of genius proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end, and Benitez believes his side have to quickly become accustomed to facing opposition of that quality.

"That is the Premier League. We have to learn quickly and be sure we take our chances. We have to make sure we work as hard as we did in defence. We’re a team that has pace and quality."