Gary Neville digs out Arsenal regular over display in nervy Newcastle victory - 'You can't'

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There was one Arsenal star who was the subject of Gary Neville's wrath after the Gunners claimed an important win over Newcastle United

Gary Neville has criticised Martin Zubimendi for his recent displays, suggesting the Arsenal midfielder's difficulties are damaging his side's Premier League title challenge.

Arsenal defeated Newcastle 1-0 to climb to the league's pinnacle on Saturday, though Neville remained thoroughly underwhelmed by what he witnessed from the hosts' midfield.

Eberechi Eze curled in from the edge of the box following a short corner to give Arsenal the lead early on and it proved enough to earn a crucial three points. The Gunners had dropped their previous two league matches to allow Manchester City back into the title conversation but returned to winning ways against the Magpies.

They required some excellent stops from David Raya and an awful miss from Yoane Wissa to secure victory on an anxious evening at the Emirates Stadium. Neville observed the fixture from the commentary position and pinpointed a particular issue Mikel Arteta must resolve.

"I thought at the start of the season that Zubimendi was a great signing," Neville told Sky Sports. "He's been a good player for Arsenal but right now I was expecting that this would be where Zubimendi would be the player. Who's going to be the difference player?

"I thought [Viktor] Gyokeres would get the goals for them in the big moments and get to 2-0. His lack of quality at the end was poor on that counter-attack. He's got to do better than that.

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"But I thought... you think of what [Andrea] Pirlo is, or [Paul] Scholes or Rodri, Bernardo Silva - the player who can dictate play in a game like this, get Arsenal on the ball, organise and get them with authority and he's not demonstrating that. He's struggling in the games and he has been for a few weeks now.

"[Martin] Odegaard does it better. Odegaard went deeper (today), but the problem is when Odegaard goes deeper, [Declan] Rice then goes deeper and Zubimendi is already deep. Then you've got three players, or certainly two in deep areas. You can't have that.

"You want them to be rotating with each other, and you want one back there to link play with the defence and the full-backs.

"It felt to me today that Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard got outplayed by that Newcastle midfield. It was 55 per cent possession to Newcastle, 45 per cent to Arsenal, surprising."

Zubimendi joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad for £51million during the summer transfer window and has proven to be a pivotal figure in Arteta's squad this season, making 50 appearances across all competitions and contributing six goals and three assists.

The 27-year-old midfielder has featured in all but one of Arsenal's 34 Premier League fixtures this campaign and is widely expected to represent Spain at this summer's World Cup, provided he navigates the final weeks of the season unscathed.