Mikel Arteta believes Premier League officiating has improved since his "strong" criticism of VAR following Arsenal's defeat at Newcastle in November.The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's goal to stand in a 1-0 loss at St James' Park as "embarrassing" and a "disgrace".Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 - which could have resulted in a ban but was instead cleared in December.Arsenal now host Newcastle on Saturday looking to keep up the pace in the Pre

Mikel Arteta believes Premier League officiating has improved since his "strong" criticism of VAR following Arsenal's defeat at Newcastle in November.The Spaniard labelled the decision to allow Anthony Gordon's goal to stand in a 1-0 loss at St James' Park as "embarrassing" and a "disgrace".Arteta was later charged by the FA for breaking Rule E3.1 - which could have resulted in a ban but was instead cleared in December.Arsenal now host Newcastle on Saturday looking to keep up the pace in the Premier League title race, as well as bounce back from their 1-0 Champions League last-16 first-leg defeat in Porto on Wednesday.Asked if he had seen an improvement in officiating and VAR since his post-match rant - which was backed up by an official statement from the club - Arteta replied: "Well that is what we all wanted.