Arsenal dramatically ended their losing run at Gallowgate on Sunday, turning a 0-1 deficit with seven minutes left into a 2-1 advantage after time added on.

Nick Woltemade had headed the Magpies into a 34th minute lead only for ex-Magpie Mikel Merino to come off the bench and nod home a late corner kick and make it 1-1.

Worse was to come for Eddie Howe's side, as another flag kick deep into time added on eluded Nick Pope and saw Gabriel head into the unguarded net.

Mikel Arteta's side had left Tyneside empty-handed three times without scoring over the last two years and to the delight of home fans, he was soon in full whinge mode here, after a pitchside VAR call overturned an onfield penalty award for his side.

Referee Jarred Gillett reversed his original decision after viewing footage establishing legal contact by Pope on Victor Gyokeres as both had sought to reach a poor back pass in the sixteenth minute. The official's onfield announcement was followed by a further audio broadcast after his microphone was inadvertently left on, telling Bukayo Saka that Pope had got a toe on the ball before contact.

The visiting boss was frustrated when Leandro Trossard's shot rebounded off the goal frame and further incensed after Woltemade netted, the German having made slight contact with Gabriel who tumbled over far too easily and appealed for a foul in vain.

A shanked clearance by Cristhian Mosquera gave United a corner on the left that Anthony Gordon played short to Sandro Tonali. He swung over a delightful centre allowing Big Nick to head in his second Magpies goal, from similar range to his first against Wolves at the Leazes End.

Following an additional seven minutes mostly triggered by the lengthy VAR decision, a pulsating first half ended with United having taken virtually their only scoring chance.

They would manage to fashion a couple more after the break, when Joelinton fired agonisingly across goal before Jacob Murphy raced onto an inspired Bruno through ball, only to be blocked by Declan Rice as he shaped to shoot.

In between those two rare moments of upfield action though, the relentless attacking of the visitors had called Pope into action again, this time swooping down to prevent a Jurrien Timber header from creeping inside a post.

A trio of home replacements failed to stop the ball spending increasing amounts of time in the Newcastle half and an injury to Tino Livramento saw him exit on a stretcher.

That caused a further reshuffle to a defence that began as a back four with Dan Burn at left back and Livramento on the other flank before the latter moved wings when the arrival of Kieran Trippier saw a shift to a five man unit.

Burn resumed on the left as Jamaal Lascelles joined Sven Botman and Malick Thiaw in a central trio to thwart what became increasingly desperate attempts to keep Arsenal at bay, not helped by Pope's haphazard distribution.

That pressure finally bore fruit with six minutes of normal time remaining, when a short corner was pumped in from the left by Rice and SJP old boy Mikel Merino headed it inside the far post in not dissimilar fashion to his only Toon goal, against Crystal Palace at the same end in 2017.

Barely had the celebrations subsided than a home attack ended with vociferous penalty appeals when Gabriel threw himself towards Anthony Elanga as he shaped to cross from the right hand side of the area.

A belated stoppage for a VAR review decreed that the contact came via the ball rebounding off Gabriel's shin and on to his hand - a conclusion that appeared out of keeping with several other recent spot kick awards for handball.

Thiaw and Lascelles both made timely interventions deep in their own area, the former capping an eye-catching display when his speed, timing and confidence in possession were all amply shown.

However another bout of added time misery was to afflict Newcastle, replicating last month's late Liverpool loss here and leaving them empty-handed again when a hard-earned point looked theirs.

This time it was a right wing corner from Odegaard that dropped into the six yard box, Pope failing to connect with his attempted punch and Gabriel getting ahead of Burn to prompt extravagant Arsenal celebrations at pitchside.

A heartbreaking end to a furious contest then, with a multiplicity of talking points in addition to the VAR calls - Woltemade struck in the face by the player who would supply the winning goal after putting United 1-0 up and the visitors getting away with perpetual shirt pulling by a myopic linesman.

As the manager admitted though, spirit and endeavour weren't quite enough to eclipse or contain an Arsenal side who refused to be stonewalled as in previous visits here, despite the usual fevered atmosphere. The moaning from Arteta and his mob may have persisted, but so did their drive. 

With no standout contributions from United's attacking substitutes, a reformatted defence that may possibly have been our tallest ever belatedly buckled under the pressure of set piece specialists.

Defeat left the Magpies languishing in 15th with just one victory from six games, their worst start to a season in points terms since the bloke who liked bacon was here. The old Eric Morecambe sketch containing the line about playing all the right notes but not in the right order came to mind after this loss; Yoane Wissa's introduction hopefully prompting those around him to work more harmoniously. 

Biffa