Howe: 'Little details' cost Newcastle in last-gasp Arsenal defeat

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe felt "the little details cost us", as the Magpies suffered last-gasp heartbreak against Arsenal.

The hosts were on course to collect all three points at St James' Park, where Nick Woltemade headed them into a first-half lead, but they were eventually ground down by the resilient Gunners.

Former Newcastle midfielder Mikel Merino nodded the visitors level in the 84th minute, while Gabriel Magalhaes headed in a dramatic winner to complete the turnaround deep into stoppage time.

Howe felt fatigue played a critical role in the Magpies' performance, as they saw their run of three straight home wins over Arsenal brought to an abrupt end.

"Two really late goals here at home hurt," he said. "We have to reflect and acknowledge that we weren't at our best. From a footballing side, it wasn't quite there.

"We looked jaded. Sometimes, you will have days when you are not physically at your best, and you have to find a way to win, and we weren't able to do that. We defended the set-pieces pretty well until the end.

"I thought we tried. We gave everything to the game. It was really physical. We took the lead, and we were desperate to try and hang on to that lead. 

"That was probably the key thing, the number of corners. The weight of pressure eventually told. No lack of effort, but the little details have cost us."

On a positive note for the Magpies, new signing Woltemade made it two goals in his first two Premier League home games since his switch from Stuttgart.

The Germany international is the sixth Newcastle player to achieve the feat, after Les Ferdinand (1995), Alan Shearer (1996), Daniel Cordone (2000), Papiss Cisse (2012) and Moussa Sissoko (2013).

However, Woltemade was also left to rue a heartbreaking defeat for his new side.

"If you concede two really late goals, it doesn't feel good – especially if you're 1-0 in front for nearly 90 minutes," he added.

"I think in the second half, we didn't get the pressure away from our goal. We were just defending. Sometimes, we have to have more situations where we can breathe, where we also play with the ball and get some situations where we can get out of pressure."