Arsenal 3 - 2 Newcastle Utd.

Fulltime score:
Arsenal 3 - 2 Newcastle United

Arsenal Scorers:
Thierry Henry - 19′, 78′ (pen)(5,6)
Gilberto - 66′ (2)

Newcastle Scorers:
Laurent Robert - 25′
Olivier Bernard - 70′

Booked:
Arsenal - None
Newcastle - Laurent Robert - 65′ - unsportsmanlike conduct

Thierry Henry opened the scoring 19 minutes into the match on a rather rainy Friday evening in London. In an worrisome turn of events, Patrick Vieira came off about ten minutes after the goal. He did have a slight limp, but it did not look that serious - not sure what exactly went wrong. Moments after Paddy left, Newcastle equalized through a Laurent Robert goal, his third against Arsenal in four matches. He truly is becoming a thorn in the Gunners’ side.

In the second half, it looked increasingly like the match was going to end in a 1-1 draw, until Henry’s free-kick in the 66th minute met the head of Gilberto, who scored his second goal of the year. It was the Brazilian’s first ever goal at Highbury. The celebrations were shortlived, as Newcastle came right back - as they had in the first half - and tied the match, this time through a goal by their other Frenchman, Olivier Bernard.

In the first half, it had been Edu who came on for Vieira. In the second, Arsene Wenger was forced to send on Pascal Cygan for an injured Ashley Cole, who had taken a nasty knock to his ankle earlier in the match. In a tactical switch, Wenger later replaced Ray Parlour with Robert Pires. With over twenty minutes left in the match, this was quite the gamble. It almost seemed to have backfired, because a few moments later, Freddie Ljungberg went down injured.

Arsenal continued to pressure the Magpies, even after being reduced to ten men. Their persistance paid off when Newcastle’s Jermaine Jenas was called for a handball inside his own penalty area. The ball had been sent into the box by a Thierry Henry free-kick, and as Gilberto and Jenas jostled for postion, the Newcastle man handled it, giving the Gunners the opportunity they needed.

Thierry Henry stepped up and made no mistake about this one - smashing it past Shay Given. This time the Gunners were in front for good. The win puts Arsenal four points clear of the ManUre scum at the top of the table. Not only does this win keep Arsenal top, but the fact that there were no Arsenal players booked speaks volumes about how poor a referee Steve Bennett actually is when compared to today’s ref, Mike Riley. Next up for Arsenal - a long trip to Moscow, where they face Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The match is actually taking place at 11:45 AM ET, but the television coverage that had been promised by Setanta seems to have fallen through. We’ll see if that changes over the next few days.