Victory not black and white

Soccer/English FA Premiership Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1: Arsenal, with a scoreline they have made their own, cut Chelsea's lead back to five points on a night when the Premiership champions had to contend with a patched-up Newcastle United side that rediscovered a measure of black and white pride.

Patrick Vieira has had his performance level questioned of late, but it was his strike in the dying seconds of the first half that flew past a startled Shay Given. Vieira's third goal of the season gave Arsenal their third consecutive victory.

Arsenal had to do without Dennis Bergkamp due to a strained thigh. The Dutchman usually enjoys his visits here, though any succour Newcastle derived from Bergkamp's absence was undermined by the prospect of their notoriously fragile defence having to deal with Bergkamp's compatriot, Robin van Persie, alongside Thierry Henry.

The sight of Van Persie surging past Aaron Hughes in the fourth minute to knock an Ashley Cole pass into the face of Shay Given caused Newcastle early palpitations.

Newcastle had, after all, come into the game with a record of no victory in their last five league games - or two wins in the last 12, if you like.

This is the sort of form that chairman Freddy Shepherd would surely describe as "unacceptable", his word for Newcastle's form this time last year, when his club were seventh.

They began last night 14th and with such a glut of injuries that the fourth-choice striker, Shola Ameobi, led the line and three youngsters were on the bench: Peter Ramage, Martin Brittain and Charles N'Zogbia.

Souness fielded Ameobi centrally with Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert supporting from the flanks, and Ameobi began brightly, bustling Sol Campbell into a ninth-minute error. Ameobi then slashed a left-foot shot wide.

The striker tried to maintain that physical presence whenever he could - whenever Newcastle got out of their half - but mostly Ameobi was a bystander as Newcastle ceded ground from the earliest moments.

Arsenal were invited forth. This is a dangerous tactic, especially as Newcastle, on average, have been letting in two goals a game this season.

But after Ameobi had headed a Campbell header off the Newcastle goalline on 15 minutes, Given had only a couple of speculative shots from Van Persie to deal with - until Vieira's dramatic intervention of course.

Newcastle had a few bothersome moments regardless, yet when Jermaine Jenas pinged a 30-yard pass towards Bellamy six minutes before half-time, the ball clearly struck the raised arm of Cole.

Had referee Steve Bennett awarded a penalty Arsenal could not have complained, but he waved play on. Newcastle were angry, yet at the same time probably feeling satisfied that they had held out until the interval.

The Tannoy had announced one minute of added time and Newcastle had a routine throw-in on the left. But Arsenal won possession and after Vieira profited from a beneficial rebound off Steven Taylor the Arsenal captain tried his luck from 25 yards.

This was an inspired choice as Vieira's fast, looping effort sped over and past the surprised Given. For extra pain the ball deflected off Jenas on the way.

Regular Newcastle observers know that the second half has not been a strength of late and now they had to chase the champions.

Newcastle, moreover, had spent a lot of energy in the first half. Any home opportunity that was to be fashioned had to be taken. Consequently, there were groans when Lee Bowyer squandered a 15-yard shot eight minutes after half-time following diligent work by Bellamy.

Not only was Ameobi having his best night for months, behind him Kieron Dyer was relentless in his running forward and tracking back. He was even applauded by Newcastle's fans.

Arsenal, meanwhile, looked content to sit on their lead and wait for a decisive breakaway. This was a risky approach and Van Persie and Lauren had to resort to bad fouls, for which each was booked.

Guardian Service

NEWCASTLE: Given, Taylor, Bramble, Hughes, Bernard (N'Zogbia 87), Dyer, Bowyer, Jenas, Robert, Bellamy, Ameobi. Subs Not Used: Milner, Brittain, Ramage, Harper. Booked: Taylor.

ARSENAL: Almunia, Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole, Ljungberg, Vieira, Flamini, Pires, Henry, Van Persie (Clichy 76). Subs Not Used: Fabregas, Senderos, Pennant, Lehmann. Booked: Cole, Van Persie, Lauren, Ljungberg. Goals: Vieira 45.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).