“And about time too”

This was a poor and toothless Newcastle side, the ideal opposition from which to bounce back from a disappointing result in Europe on Tuesday and raise our scoring confidence prior to two difficult away games at Spurs and Liverpool. Forced into playing a 4-1-4-1 formation due to a youthful central defence and the absence of Alan Shearer this seemed to be a damage limitation exercise. Robert Lee, tasked with protecting the back four, was simply not up to it.

Henry sensed this and exploited their indecision quickly to give us the lead within 15 minutes, controlling a brilliant long-range pass from Adams and curling the ball around Given. Parlour, who missed Tuesday’s game due to suspension, was clearly eager to make his claim on a first team place and in the absence of the injured Viera, did this with some aplomb. Hat-trick aside, he did enough running off the ball and tackling in the centre of the pitch to show how well he can play in that role, as well as on the right.

Partnered ably by Grimandi their opposition of Acuna and Speed were nullified completely. KANU who attracted the attentions of 2-3 defenders whenever he had the ball, was at times sublime, and he set up our second with an accurate through ball which matched the pace of Parlour’s powerful run through the middle. Parlour hit it with his second touch and it sailed past Given beautifully. 2-0. Mindful not to relinquish a 2-0 lead again we seemed to come out more determined in the second half and it was KANU’s turn to get on the score sheet. With his right he received a superb through ball from the alert Ljungberg, and he stroked it home effortlessly with his left. With players like Solano and Dyer this shouldn’t have been such a one-sided contest.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the 70th minute that United created a glove dirtying opportunity for Alex Manninger, who showed a glimpse of his potential by saving a close range drive from Dyer in the six-yard box. By then of course they were 3-0 behind with nowhere to go. Bergkamp and Ljungberg should have all made the score sheet later in the second half but were thwarted by the shell-shocked Given. Parlour’s consistent exploitation of space and willingness to chase lost causes was rewarded with two more goals in the dying minutes – the second, amazingly, being our first headed goal of the season. Particularly gratifying was that we heard through the crowd that Man United had drawn at Charlton after going 3-1 ahead – it seems that everyone is capable of losing a 2 goal lead – as had Spurs at Bradford! I said that Charlton would take important points off our Northern rivals, unlike our gutless North London counterparts, and they did.

Now 6 points behind MU we have three very important games coming up against Spurs (its their Cup Final) Liverpool and then Leicester City on Boxing Day. Hopefully today’s result will be the boost we need to take all nine points from these fixtures – they’re there for the taking!

Arsenal: Manninger; Dixon, Keown, Adams, Vivas; Ljungberg (Luzhny 82), Parlour, Grimandi (Lauren 59), Pires; Kanu (Bergkamp 68), Henry.
Newcastle Utd: Given; Barton, Hughes, Caldwell, Griffin (Domi 68); Lee (Glass 68); Solano, Acuna, Speed, Dyer (Cordone 79); LuaLua.