Dan Burn has spoken about Arsenal's ultimate compliment to Newcastle United despite finishing on the losing side.
The Gunners turned up at St James' Park determined to rattle United and were happy to use the same disruption tactics that Newcastle have picked up a reputation for this season themselves in the Premier League. Burn admitted that Arsenal's approach was frustrating but indicated that Newcastle must roll with the punches.
When asked if it was frustrating, Burn told reporters: "Of course it is, but that's what they are saying we done to them down there. We get a lot of stick for slowing the game down. I don't know if we intentionally do it all the time, but they did it, and it's part and parcel of football.
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"We can't complain when it happens to us. A lot of teams tend to do that now, they feel the energy of the crowd and try to stifle it. When a team like Arsenal are coming here and doing that it is a compliment."
Newcastle can still achieve 77 points in the Premier League and know that the likes of Liverpool and Brighton can't afford to slip up. But Burn knows that United were close to getting something against Arsenal and there should be no reason to panic.
He said: "We're disappointed but it's fine margins. They scored from outside the box and through an own goal. We had chances but we didn't take them. I thought it was a good game and it was a good game for any neutral."
The game seemed to turn on the non-award of a penalty after referee Chris Kavanagh had initially pointed to the spot for a handball decision. But after reviewing the pitchside monitor, Kavanagh went back on his original call.
Did the decision break Newcastle's momentum? Burn said: "A little bit. We always feel with games especially at home, the crowd were behind us.
"I didn't look back on the penalty but the referee (Chris Kavanagh) saw enough to overturn it so it must not have been as clear as first thought."
Last season Newcastle ran out 2-0 winners over Arsenal and dented the London side's Champions League hopes. This season felt like some role reversal for United.
Burn reflected: "I knew it wasn't going to be the same as last season. Obviously we played them off the park last year but they are a lot better this year.
"They have shown that all season. They have been unlucky with City overtaking them but they are a very good team. We caused them problems. And we dealt with them well, we were unfortunate that we didn't win.
"Then they scored from outside the box which we don't concede very often and that sort of killed the game a little bit. We are disappointed but we still have four games to go and it's still in our hands."
