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Season 2008-09
Arsenal (h) Premier League

In association with NUFC.com
 

Date: Saturday 21st March 2009, 5.30pm. Live on Setanta.

Venue:
 St.James' Park

Conditions: 
fretful
 

 


 

Newcastle United

Arsenal

1 - 3

Teams

Goals

Full time: Newcastle 1 Arsenal 3

57 mins Ryan Taylor was rightly penalised for the second of two fouls in the same move, catching an opponent in a momentary neck lock. Arshavin swung in the resultant free kick from midway down the Newcastle left, to where Bendtner jumped and glanced the ball past Harper 0-1

58 mins
Precisely 49 seconds later United were level, as Martins lost the ball on the edge of the Arsenal area, but fortuitously regained it via a deflection off Gallas. The Nigerian wasted no time in whipping a low shot beyond Almunia at the Leazes end, before setting off on a marathon run that took him back into his own half via the home dugout 1-1

64 mins
With United down to ten men as Steven Taylor received treatment, Arsenal burst through the centre of the home defence and Diaby played a neat one two with van Persie before flighting the ball into the roof of the net 1-2

67 mins
Harper was beaten for a third time in rapid succession as Nasri found space in the box and shot beyond him 1-3

Full time: Newcastle 1 Arsenal 3

We Said

After the game Chris Hughton commented:

"‘I can understand the feeling of fans. 

"Of course I have sleepless nights but I have to stay focused for this group of lads. I am concerned but they cannot see me worry. I accept it is going to be a dogfight now through to the end of the season. We are well aware of the position. We have eight games left, we need to get enough results to stay in this division and we need to get results quickly.

"We’re disappointed with the timing of the (second Arsenal) goal, so quickly after we’d got back on level terms.  The incident with Steven Taylor was a normal one. He went off the park and unless the player is saying he can’t continue, you have to give him a period of time to get over the injury.

"I have had no indication that anything will change - Joe will be back at the time when he will be back, but apart from that, I am not aware of anything else.

"Mike
(Ashley) wasn’t in the changing room at half-time. He came down to see the staff after the game. That’s normal for Mike. We spoke about the game. He was encouraged by the first hour of the game and, in particular, the first half, but shared our disappointment that we didn’t get more out of it."

They said


Arsene Wenger said:

"‘I like the people here and the consistency of the support. I hope they stay up.Newcastle showed they have enough quality but they need one or two results to go for them.

"I think it was a very good football game, one where Newcastle played well. They had a very good first half and put us under pressure and could have been in front, of course, with the penalty. They had two or three other good chances. In the second half we kept the tempo high, slowly took over and then won the game in a convincing way. I must say as well Newcastle were unfortunate to lose players, like Sebastien Bassong and Steven Taylor, at the wrong period of the game.

"It was a good opportunity today, to close in on those at the top. You never know, even in a one in a billion chance, we want to come back and fight to get as close to the team at the top.

"We feel that we are on a very good run and improving in every game. This is a young side and the spirit is great, the quality is there and we feel we can go forward from game to game. People don’t realise how young we are in the Premier League, and what we achieve. I think today you had six or seven players between 20 and 22-years of age.

"The penalty save was certainly an important part of the game. I felt, though, that when the penalty was given, that Rome would help him (Almunia); it made him feel strong on penalties. Of course it is a bit of a toss up, but I think some part of a penalty is psychological. On that front, the fact he helped us to win in Rome gave him the needed confidence.

"I was surprised they left Michael Owen out, but I read that this morning that he would not play. Maybe he is not in top physical form. I must say Martins and  Lovenkrands were lively - they played very well.

"The only thing that has changed from two weeks ago is that it is in our hands now. We do not have to focus too much on the results of Aston Villa. That shows you, if you drop a little bit, you are quickly caught. We could have been eight points behind Aston Villa two weeks ago, so we want to keep our focus, and our performances at a high level."
 

Stats


Gunners in Toon - Premiership years:

2008/09: Lost 1-3 Martins
2007/08: Drew 1-1 Taylor
2006/07: Drew 0-0 
2005/06:
Won 1-0 Solano
2004/05: Lost 0-1
2003/04:
Drew 0-0
2002/03: Drew 1-1 Robert
2001/02: Drew 1-1 Robert
(FAC)
2001/02: Lost 0-2
2000/01: Drew 0-0
1999/00: Won 4-2 Speed 2, Shearer, Griffin
1998/99: Drew 1-1 Hamann
1997/98: Lost 0-1
1996/97: Lost 1-2 Shearer
1995/96: Won 2-0 Ginola, Ferdinand
1994/95: Won 1-0 Beardsley
1993/94: Won 2-0 Cole, Beardsley

Total record against Arsenal:
 
  P W D L F A
SJP 76 40 17 19 138 85
Hbury/Em 76 21 17 38 80 125
League 152 61 34 57 218 210
SJP(FA) 2 0 2 0 4 4
Hbury/Em/W/Stoke 8 4 0 4 7 12
SJP(LC) 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hbury/Em 3 0 0 3 0 8
Cup 13 4 2 7 11 24
Tot 165 65 36 64 229 234

Seventh league goal of the season for Obafemi Martins, which have come from 16 starts.
 

Waffle

When the dust finally settles on this season, United may look upon a ten minute spell of this game as the point at which hopes of retaining top flight status were irredeemably taken from their grasp.

With 57 minutes on the clock, United were deadlocked with the visitors and still dreaming of making it 1-0 against the Arsenal. By the 67th minute though, they'd gone behind, drawn level, lost another player through injury and lost the game - and with it, any semblance of shape and organisation.

In fairness though, that passage of play was just another in a sequence of blows that had rained down on Chris Hughton and his side since Saturday lunchtime. Some dubious decision-making from the match officials and a forgettable Everton performance had given Pompey three points in the early game, before late goals handed Blackburn a point and Stoke three in the afternoon kickoffs.

Defying suggestions that he was incapable of making decisive alterations to his side, the stand-in boss then dropped four players from the starting XI that failed to trouble Hull, demoting messrs Owen, Smith, Geremi and Gutierrez and replacing them with Lovenkrands, Nolan, Ryan Taylor & Duff.

That refashioned side started cautiously and little was seen of Martins before his 23rd minute opportunity to boost United's fortunes from the penalty spot. And although his weak right footer was easily smothered by Almunia, Newcastle maintained their attacking efforts and encouragingly, managed to fashion further chances for both Oba and Lovenkrands.

Some desperate tackling and quality keeping defied Arsenal and increased the conviction that this after all could end up being our day, as we reached the interval on level terms and still in the contest - as had been the case in the previous home game against Manchester United.     

By then though, Habib Beye had been thrust back into service after his three month absence as Bassong limped off through injury, before the Frenchman was forced to switch from right back to central defence when Steven Taylor was unable to continue.

Losing one central defender may have been slightly problematic, but being deprived of a second member of the back four proved to be decisive, as Arsenal instantly profited from our being a man short and then proceeded to tie us in knots once back to full strength.

Realistically the game was gone at 2-1 and Michael Owen's introduction was no more than statistical - his watching the penalty miss from the bench being one further example of our ill-fortune. Equally academic was the introduction of Ameobi, which was greeted by some mild booing, although the mass exodus from home sections at that point was as telling.

At 3-1 down, the atmosphere died - save for some crowing from the away section - leaving home fans to contemplate our remaining in the bottom three for at least the next fortnight. There were some positives to be taken as we strove in vain for a first home win in seven attempts - included a renewal of the interplay down the left between Duff and Enrique - but also much of deep concern.

Despite wholesale changes in midfield, Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor contributed as little as Geremi and Smith had done the previous Saturday, with the latter simply looking out of his depth and being caught time and again dithering on the ball, or let down by a woeful first touch. 

And once again, Coloccini's defensive shortcomings were exposed, with one horrendous first half slip in his own penalty area inexplicably going unpunished, thanks to some Arsenal profligacy.

Our next examination promises to be as rigorous as this, although Chelsea come to Tyneside with a Premiership record at SJP that hasn't always gone their way. However, some of the late season stagings of that fixture haven't seen them at full throttle.

By then Kinnear, Hughton and Calderwood will have had ample time to pick the bones out of this performance, not to mention make an assessment of the fitness or otherwise of Bassong & Taylor. 

From this quarter though, we're as mentally prepared for defeat as we were today and remain clinging to hopes that we can muster enough effort and quality to account for Stoke, Pompey, the smoggies and Fulham in a quartet of genuinely pivotal fixtures.

The dozen points possible from a quartet of victories remain the key to our survival, but whether we can hold our nerve by then remains a moot point, especially as things look like getting worse in the immediate future. For Chelsea read Arsenal though - scraping a result would be an immeasurable boost to all concerned, but a waste of a good performance. Playing like this against lesser teams is a habit we need to acquire quickly. 

Biffa
 

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Page last updated 08 February, 2017