Rafa Benitez Blames Lack on Investment for Newcastle's Toothless Display in Arsenal Defeat

Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez has claimed that his team suffered from a lack of attacking quality during their 2-0 defeat against Arsenal on Monday night.

The Magpies succumbed to goals either side of half time from Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette, in a performance which saw plenty of defensive grit from Newcastle, but very little productivity when presented with the opportunity to counter attack.

Benitez's team barely threatened during the match, only managing one shot on target during their trip to the Emirates Stadium.

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The Spaniard did, however, praise his team's work ethic in spite of a rather lacklustre attacking performance in north London, though he was critical of the type of goals his side conceded.

Benitez said to Sky Sports: (as quoted by ChronicleLive) "We tried but we were against a team that is good at home. They try, they press against us when we had the ball and were trying to counter attack. That was one of the things we have to improve. We were giving the ball away too easily and you have to manage things in the Premier League and we didn’t do it.

"We were pushing and at 1-0 you are still in the game and they needed to score a second goal. The way that we conceded those two goals: we can concede in any way but both of those goals were scrappy goals."

Benitez also suggested that his side's lack of success in the attacking third could come down to the lack of financial resources available to him at St.James' Park, before claiming that his side will continue to focus on one game at a time.

He added: "We have been talking about that all season. The final third is when you spend £40m or £50m or £75m on players.

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"Every game for us is a final. We have to try to get three points against Crystal Palace. It’s not that the next few games are important, it’s that the next game is important."