Alan Shearer left puzzled by Mikel Arteta's game plan as Newcastle United add to Arsenal top four woes

Former Newcastle United forward Alan Shearer admits he was left bewildered at the game plan utilised by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. The Magpies eased to a comfortable 2-0 victory at St. James Park on Monday evening, leaving the Gunners' top four hopes firmly hanging in the balance.

With just one game remaining until the completion of the 21/22 campaign, Eddie Howe's side could now finish as high as 9th if results go their way.

Speaking following United's impressive display, Shearer didn't mince his words, sharing his disbelief for the way Arteta decided to approach the game on Monday evening.

"I think what surprised me with the Arsenal team was on the back of such a poor performance against Tottenham, and what you want and need is a game straight away to say okay we need to get that one out of our system," Shearer told Premier League Productions post match.

"Now we all knew what the atmosphere was going to be like at St. James Park tonight. So those players should have known and Mikel Arteta will have known, so I was really surprised to see that it almost caught them by surprise.

"They looked like rabbits in headlights, they didn't know what had hit them. We all knew what was going to come and we all expected Newcastle to go after Arsenal right from the off because we said that's what the Newcastle fans demand, you have to do that.

We were then expecting some kind of reaction in the second half, and it never happened at all. They got worse, Newcastle got better and put them under more pressure and I said shooting towards the Gallowgate End they suck the ball into the net, that's what the fans want and that's what they demand."