Fabregas 'Should Have Knocked Out Horton' - THE VIDEO!

Last updated : 20 March 2009 By Footy Mad - Editor

Saturday 21st March 2009

Blackburn v West Ham 15.00
Fulham v Man Utd 15.00
Newcastle v Arsenal 17.30
Portsmouth v Everton 12.45
Stoke City v Middlesbrough 15.00
Tottenham v Chelsea 15.00
West Brom v Bolton 15.00

Sunday 22nd March 2009

Liverpool v Aston Villa 16.00
Man City v Sunderland 15.00
Wigan Athletic v Hull City 13.30

NEWCASTLE v ARSENAL PREMIERSHIP HISTORY

2008/2009 Sat 30 Aug Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2007/2008 Tue 29 Jan Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
Sat 26 Jan Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
Wed 05 Dec Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Arsenal Premier League
Tue 25 Sep Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd. League Cup
2006/2007 Mon 09 Apr Newcastle Utd. 0 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Sat 18 Nov Arsenal 1 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2005/2006 Sat 10 Dec Newcastle Utd. 1 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Sun 14 Aug Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2004/2005 Sun 23 Jan Arsenal 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Wed 29 Dec Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Arsenal Premiership
2003/2004 Sun 11 Apr Newcastle Utd. 0 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Fri 26 Sep Arsenal 3 - 2 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2002/2003 Sun 09 Feb Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Arsenal Premiership
Sat 09 Nov Arsenal 1 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2001/2002 Sat 23 Mar Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
Sat 09 Mar Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Arsenal F.A. Cup
Sat 02 Mar Newcastle Utd. 0 - 2 Arsenal Premiership
Tue 18 Dec Arsenal 1 - 3 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
2000/2001 Tue 15 May Newcastle Utd. 0 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Sat 09 Dec Arsenal 5 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
1999/2000 Sun 14 May Newcastle Utd. 4 - 2 Arsenal Premiership
Sat 30 Oct Arsenal 0 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
1998/1999 Sun 28 Feb Newcastle Utd. 1 - 1 Arsenal Premiership
Sun 04 Oct Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
1997/1998 Sat 16 May Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd. F.A. Cup
played at Wembley
Sat 11 Apr Arsenal 3 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 06 Dec Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Arsenal Premiership
1996/1997 Sat 03 May Arsenal 0 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Sat 30 Nov Newcastle Utd. 1 - 2 Arsenal Premiership
1995/1996 Sat 23 Mar Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
Wed 10 Jan Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd. League Cup
Tue 02 Jan Newcastle Utd. 2 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
1994/1995 Sun 19 Mar Newcastle Utd. 1 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Sun 18 Sep Arsenal 2 - 3 Newcastle Utd. Premiership
1993/1994 Sat 07 May Newcastle Utd. 2 - 0 Arsenal Premiership
Sat 27 Nov Arsenal 2 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premiership

ARSENAL'S LAST THREE VISITS TO ST JAMES PARK

2007/8 NEWCASTLE 1 ARSENAL 1

NEWCASTLE: Given, Beye, Taylor, Rozehnal, N'Zogbia, Milner, Barton, Butt, Geremi (Viduka 77), Martins, Smith.

Att: 50,305

Steven Taylor proved the hero as Newcastle rediscovered their form just in time for boss Sam Allardyce to hold Premier League leaders Arsenal at St James' Park.

The 21-year-old struck on the hour to end a run of three successive home league defeats to relieve the pressure on their beleaguered manager.

After a run of five games which had yielded just one point, the prospect of an Arsenal rout on Tyneside, where both Portsmouth and Liverpool had won at a canter in recent weeks, was too much to bear.

However, Allardyce's men produced a performance of real character despite Emmanuel Adebayor's delicious fourth-minute opener to deny the Gunners a six-point lead at the top of the table and prevent themselves from slipping to a third successive home defeat for the first time in the Premier League.

A single point alone may not turn Newcastle's season or Allardyce's fortunes around, but the bulk of a crowd of 50,305 went home confident that better times lie ahead for the first time in weeks.

They will hope their side can build upon that platform when Birmingham head to the north-east on Saturday with pride restored and the relationship between players and supporters, which has appeared strained at times, renewed.

Allardyce and owner Mike Ashley shared a joke in the directors' box before kick-off on a night which was perhaps never going to be decisive for the manager, but was one on which his team needed to provide hopes that things will turn.

The smiles, however, had disappeared within four minutes as a piece of sheer quality illuminated the Tyneside night.

Unfortunately for the vast majority of the spectators, it came from a man in a red and white shirt as Adebayor, who had earlier earned the jeers of the home fans for complaining about Taylor's innocuous challenge, silenced them with a breathtaking finish.

Whether or not he should have been allowed to get in between central defenders Taylor and David Rozehnal will no doubt have been discussed in the dressing room at half-time, as the Togo striker controlled Emmanuel Eboue's cross on his chest before thumping an unstoppable volley past Shay Given.

It was just what Allardyce and his players did not need, but to their credit - and backed by fans who had booed them mercilessly during and after their 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool 11 days earlier - they fought back.

Few teams in the Premier League can match Arsenal's movement and passing, and the current crop of Magpies are not one of them.

However, there was no faulting their effort, commitment and desire to scrap for their lives as Joey Barton and Nicky Butt snapped into challenges and Alan Smith, playing in his favoured striking role, caused the Gunners problems throughout.

While Arsene Wenger's men were at times almost irresistible on the counter, Newcastle tried to hit back, and where they had not managed a single shot on target against Liverpool, threatened on several occasions.

Skipper Geremi saw a looping header fall just wide with Manuel Almunia beaten seconds after Adebayor's strike, and then sent the keeper full-stretch to keep out his 28th-minute free-kick.

Almunia just managed to get a hand to Taylor's goal-bound header 10 minutes before the break and Obafemi Martins saw a gilt-edged opportunity pass him by when Smith's 40th-minute flick-on drifted across goal without the Nigerian getting a touch.

The half-time whistle for once brought warm applause, but Newcastle returned knowing the hard work had barely started.

They started brightly once again as Charles N'Zogbia warmed Almunia's hands with a rising left-foot strike from distance which might have caused him real problems had it been set off a yard to his right.

But the threat posed by the visitors was reinforced on 50 minutes when Tomas Rosicky effortlessly made space for himself to play in Eboue down the right, although the full-back wastefully picked out only Given at his near post.

Gilberto threw himself into the path of Geremi's 53rd-minute shot, but it took some fine recovery work from Rozehnal and Barton at the other end seconds later after Adebayor had flicked the ball around the Czech defender and launched a lightning break with Rosicky.

However, Newcastle got their reward on the hour when Smith flicked on Habib Beye's cross and Martins dummied it for Taylor to fire home off the foot of the post.

Arsenal were clearly rattled as the Magpies sensed the tide had turned, but as time ran down, they started to find their feet once again.

However, although they continued to play with a swagger as the final whistle approached, it was the home side who came closest to winning it at the death.

Arsenal slipped further off the pace in the Barclays Premiership despite ending a run of three successive league defeats.

The Gunners, who have never lost four consecutive league matches under Arsene Wenger, might have done so had James Milner's 46th-minute shot not come back off the crossbar on an afternoon when Newcastle were a match for their illustrious opponents.

Arsene Wenger's side, as ever, played some attractive football, but created few opportunities of any note until a late flurry which brought the best out of Nolberto Solano.

The Magpies' approach may have been a little more prosaic, but if anything, they had the clear openings with winger Damien Duff twice going close at the end of a first half during which defender Oguchi Onyewu had forced a good save from keeper Jens Lehmann.

However, a point apiece was fair, and it was the home fans among a crowd of 52,293 who left St James' Park the happier.

The Magpies returned to the scene of last Saturday's dismal 1-0 defeat by Manchester City knowing their supporters would not tolerate a repeat of that performance, although equally aware the opposition would be much, much more dangerous.

However, in the event, they fought out an even first half during which the Gunners played some typically pleasing football while rarely looking likely to cut the hosts open.

Goalkeeper Shay Given had only one real save to make when he got down well to keep out Alexander Hleb's fifth-minute shot, although his afternoon came to a premature conclusion when he was caught in a challenge with striker Emmanuel Adebayor and for the fourth time this season, had to leave the pitch with just 26 minutes gone.

His replacement Steve Harper was no busier during the remainder of the opening period, and while Lehmann had only one save of any note to make, getting down well to palm away defender Onyewu's 16th-minute snapshot, it was his goal which was more often the focus of attention.

Duff found himself in space on the left on 23 minutes after Obafemi Martins, who was causing the visitors' defence all kinds of problems both in the air and on the ground, linked well with Nicky Butt.

The Republic of Ireland international surged into the box before firing a left-foot shot across Lehmann, but wide of the far post.

Adebayor headed a 31st-minute Cesc Fabregas corner over Harper's crossbar, but Duff might have made the breakthrough twice within three minutes at the end of the half.

First, he saw a right-foot shot blocked at the near post after Butt had pulled the ball back from the goal-line, and he then stabbed an effort across goal as panic set in at the back for the Gunners amid an untidy scramble.

Sensing an opportunity, the Magpies returned in determined fashion and had gone close twice by the time the clocked ticked on to the 47th-minute.

Full-back Gael Clichy had to climb high at the far post to head a Duff cross away from Milner, and the former Leeds man went desperately close himself seconds later.

Milner fired the ball in from the right and saw it curl beyond the stranded Lehmann only to come back off the crossbar.

Glenn Roeder had to change the shape of his side on 52 minutes when Kieron Dyer limped off unhappily and was replaced by Charles N'Zogbia, who went straight into central midfield with Emre asked to provide the support for lone striker Martins in a diminutive partnership.

The home side lost their rhythm as they attempted to regroup, and Harper's goal came under threat on 57 minutes when Emmanuel Eboue burst forward and let fly, although his right-foot effort was always curling away from the target.

Wenger made his move on 61 minutes when he replaced Hleb with striker Julio Baptista in the search for what looked likely to be the decisive first goal.

However, Emre almost opened up the visitors' defence with a mazy 64th-minute run, although when the ball fell to Duff, he wasted the opportunity to either cross or shoot and was muscled out of it.

Jeremie Aliadiere arrived as a 71st-minute replacement for Adebayor as the Gunners made their final push and the home side found themselves defending deep and in numbers.

And but for Solano, the man who scored the winner in the same game last season, the Frenchman might have won it add the death, the Peruvian clearing Giberto's 84th-minute effort off the line and then blocking Aliadiere's follow-up.

There was controversy at the death when referee Howard Webb, who had spoken to Diaby about his attempts to contain Onyewu as Milner prepared to curl a free-kick into the box, then allowed him to effectively rugby tackle the defender when the ball came in.

Nolberto Solano chose the perfect moment to score his first goal since returning to Newcastle to condemn 10-man Arsenal to a second successive Barclays Premiership defeat.

The Peruvian struck with just eight minutes remaining to hand under-pressure manager Graeme Souness a first win in five attempts as Gilberto was sent off for two bookable offences.

Arsenal dominated before the break and were only denied a 27th-minute lead by a superb save from Shay Given after Thierry Henry volleyed towards the top corner.

But it was a different story after half-time as the Magpies set about the visitors with real intent and always looked the more likely winners.

Victory was sweet enough in itself, but the fact that it came courtesy of a spirited display despite the absence of several key players, will have been just as important for Souness after a difficult few weeks on Tyneside.

The appearance of Michael Owen's name on the teamsheet came as a massive boost, even if every time he set off on one of his high-octane runs, all eyes were trained on him for any sign of discomfort after a four-game absence with his groin injury.

However, although his presence in the starting line-up increased his side's potency immeasurably, their success or otherwise was always going to depend largely on how they defended and, in particular, dealt with the threat of Thierry Henry.

In the event, they managed that well in the opening 45 minutes as they hunted in packs in midfield, covered each other's backs in defence and, when it mattered, were able to rely on the brilliance of Given.

That the home side created little in attack until the dying minutes of the first half - when the outstanding Scott Parker sent a dangerous ball across the face of goal and Owen danced his way into a promising position before being muscled out of it - was a concern, but the fact is they had their hands full elsewhere.

It is fair to say that neither Robbie Elliott nor Peter Ramage would be in Souness' first-choice starting XI and that had Steven Taylor been fit either Titus Bramble or Jean-Alain Boumsong would have been sitting on the bench, but all four turned in creditable displays as the Gunners threatened to cut loose.

The rearguard was pierced only once, on 27 minutes, when Henry's volley from Freddie Ljungberg's cross was heading for the top corner when Given, whose representative Michael Kennedy was due on Tyneside today to open negotiations on his new contract, pulled off a stunning save to keep it out.

Henry scuffed another effort wide under pressure from Boumsong two minutes later after Ljungberg had again picked him out, and then left Parker on his backside with an audacious turn inside the penalty area, but even he could not find the breakthrough.

Newcastle's confidence grew as the half wore on and their work-rate could not be questioned, as Cesc Fabregas found to his cost in injury-time.

The Spanish midfielder worked himself into space wide on the left in first-half injury-time but, when he looked up, he found himself surrounded by four black and white shirts.

Souness' side, buoyed by their resilience in the opening 45 minutes, returned after the break and set about the visitors from the off.

It took a fine recovery by Sol Campbell to deny Owen a 48th-minute shot at goal after he had spun away from the defender following Parker's pass, and the former Charlton midfielder might have done better two minutes later after skipper Alan Shearer had headed down a Solano cross, his shot flying high over from the edge of the penalty area.

But the 35-year-old might have broken the deadlock himself on 50 minutes when Parker returned the favour by playing him in on the right side of the box, but his first-time strike flew just wide with Owen in space at the far post.

Newcastle's momentum increased further on 57 minutes when Gilberto, who had earlier been booked for a foul on Shola Ameobi, caught Boumsong with a mis-timed challenge and was dismissed.

Parker sent a long-range effort just over two minutes later and then careered into keeper Jens Lehmann, a collision which left him bleeding from the mouth, but the home side were very definitely in the ascendancy.

Arsene Wenger replaced Alexander Hleb with Mathieu Flamini in a bid to regain a foothold in the game, and his side might have gone ahead on 67 minutes had Robin van Persie not miskicked in front of goal after Kolo Toure had carved the home side apart with a powerful run down the right.

Parker's evening ended in a daze after he was caught again, this time by Toure, and Lee Bowyer took his place. But there was to be a twist in the tale.

Shearer battled well to return the ball to Solano on the right edge of the penalty area with eight minutes remaining and the Peruvian needed no second invitation to blast a blistering low drive across Lehmann and into the bottom corner to set St James' Park alight.

Owen might have made it 2-0 on 86 minutes, but one goal proved enough despite a frantic finish in five agonising minutes of added time.