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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said Newcastle "tried to stop us from playing" after his side edged to a 1-0 victory at St James' Park. Newcastle saw Aleksandar Mitrovic sent off just 16 minutes into the game while the home side also saw Fabricio Coloccini, Chancel Mbemba, Georginio Wijnaldum, Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita and Florian Thauvin booked. Wenger said Arsenal, who won the game when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's shot was deflected home by Coloccini early in the second half, had struggled with the physical approach adopted by Steve McClaren's men. "I must say that Newcastle decided from the start to make the game quite physical and we had to keep our nerves and not become a little bit aggressive as well," he told the postmatch news conference. "I thought we did that well. Afterwards it was a strange game. You play away from home, 11 against 10, and you know that they will play 15 yards deeper. You play 10 against nine in the final third. "The crowd is behind their team which puts pressure on the referee, and then it's very difficult. We didn't find the space. They defended well and they've shown why they didn't concede at Manchester United as well. We are happy to have the three points and to win 1-0." Asked if referee Andre Marriner had given Arsenal enough protection, Wenger said: "I don't know. I think the referee did alright but Newcastle wanted to stop us from playing, from moving the ball quickly and to stop our game. They tried that from the start on. "Mitrovic went a bit overboard maybe, and maybe a bit unlucky." Newcastle boss Steve McClaren said there was "no intent" and "no maliciousness" in Mitrovic's foul on Francis Coquelin but Wenger said he did not know if it was deliberate. He added: "Honestly during the game I didn't see. Just seeing the game on television, unfortunately it was a red card. He didn't play the ball at all." The victory was Arsenal's second from their opening four games, and Wenger said it was important that they collected all three points. "We know we'll turn it round at home so it was important mathematically not to drop points today, not to be too far from the top teams," he said. "It was important mentally as well because we dropped points at home. "We had two different away games at Newcastle and Crystal Palace but we've got six points. That is very good." The Gunners have so far signed only goalkeeper Petr Cech from Chelsea this summer, and Wenger said he was considering further deals before Tuesday's deadline. "We are open and we are in the transfer market," he said. "If we find an exceptional player in any sector, we will do it. At the moment I don't know if something will happen or not."
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