Martin Keown spotted something ‘unusual’ about Declan Rice, it cost Arsenal the game vs Newcastle

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Arsenal suffered a deeply disappointing defeat to Newcastle United on match day 10 of the Premier League season.

Mikel Arteta’s side saw themselves fail to shorten the gap on the top two of the table, extending their streak without a win to three games. 

After losing to Bournemouth and drawing to Liverpool, it was crucial that Arsenal returned to winning ways against Newcastle.

Instead, the Gunners suffered defeat, seeing them collect just one point from a possible nine in their previous three games.

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Martin Keown surprised at Declan Rice moment in Arsenal vs Newcastle United

It was an afternoon to forget for Arsenal at St James’ Park, as Arteta’s side could not find a way to respond to Alexander Isak’s 12th minute opener.

The Gunners showed little sign of threatening throughout the match, with Arsenal fans calling for Martin Odegaard due to the matter of very little being created in the contest. 

For all of Arsenal’s lack of presence in the final third, there was a last-gasp chance to claim a point, as Declan Rice missed a header in injury time. 

The midfielder had the perfect chance to level the score at the death but fluffed his lines, which was something that surprised club icon Martin Keown.

“He [Rice] seems to back away from it, unusual. You think it’s going to hit the back of the net,” Keown said on TNT Sports’ coverage of Arsenal’s defeat.

Keown wasn’t alone in his assessment of Rice’s moment to score, as fellow pundit Joe Cole believed the Englishman got it ‘wrong’.

“Declan gets it wrong, he’ll be disappointed there.”

Mikel Arteta has a lot of questions to answer

Rice could have earned a point and things could have been a little brighter from an Arsenal point of view but, the performance was something that was unforgettably poor.

A goal would have sweetened an overly bitter display from the Gunners, who showed a level far from that expected of a squad hoping to challenge for the Premier League title. 

• READ MORE: Five things we learned as Arsenal suffer damaging 1-0 defeat vs Newcastle

Arsenal’s wrongs started from the kick off, as it was quickly evident that Arteta’s game plan was not going to get the better of the Magpies.

Instead of mixing things up, Arteta stuck to his guns, something that was wrong against Bournemouth, wrong against Liverpool and wrong against Newcastle.

The manager has to quickly ditch the stubborn label and get his players back to their best however, it might already be too late for Arsenal to right their wrongs in the title race.