Arsenal reign supreme

Acclamation may have come only grudgingly in the first instance, but as the crowds moved back down Wembley Way in the early evening sunshine on Saturday there was no mistaking the conversion to Arsene Wenger's gospel.

People who had arrived in doubt just hours earlier were now, it seemed, more ready to accept the Frenchman's claim that he leads the best team in Britain.

It may have required the completion of the Big Double to convince the disbelievers, but when Tony Adams held the FA Cup aloft even the most sceptical were ready to acknowledge the change of kingship.

The most potent footballing force in England is still garbed in red and white, but in the fickle world of sport the reign of Old Trafford and the glory, glory days of Manchester United now seem a long way off.

"It's the win which makes our season complete," said Wenger. "Now we must make time to enjoy it."

Minutes before Adams climbed the 39 steps to the royal box to take possession of the glittering silverware, the Newcastle players had made the same short walk - but in vastly different circumstances.

Success is still the most powerful linament of all. As Newcastle's captain, Robert Lee, took his players to receive their runners-up medals the weight in their legs must have been intolerable.

Hopes that some mundane players could somehow touch greatness in the rarefied atmosphere of Wembley on cup final day were finally extinguished after Nicolas Anelka had delivered the decisive second goal in the 69th minute.

And even as the most remarkable set of club supporters in the English game buried their disappointment to restate their loyalty in tones that were deeply impressive, the evidence was irrefutable; the club must continue to spend if success is to revisit Tyneside.

Wenger's achievement has been to rediscover Arsenal's greatness without endangering the financial structure of the club. In that there is surely an object lesson for those who still believe that extravagant spending is the only sure way to fill a trophy room.

With the astute judgement of a man who knew exactly what was needed for the challenge of surfing the turbulence of the Premiership, he persuaded a number of his countrymen to join Dutch pair Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars to oversee the journey back to power.

And yet, it is trite to suggest that his knowledge of the European game and its principal playmakers is the sole reason for his spectacular success at Highbury. That is to overlook the remarkable renaissance of Adams and the manner in which Wenger has guided one of the most celebrated of all Arsenal players back to the top after his unsettling start to he season.

Adams, who was leading his club to their seventh FA Cup success on Saturday, has long been an icon at Highbury. The bigger achievement for Wenger, perhaps, has been to extract the skill which had lain dormant for much of Ray Parlour's earlier career.

At Wembley on Saturday Parlour again illustrated the benefits of his partnership with the new manager, decorating a convincing performance with the superb over-the-top pass which enabled Anelka to converge on Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given in a one-on-one situation in which there was only going to be one winner.

Yet, inevitably, it was the continental influence which gave real merit to this newest Arsenal triumph. Patrick Vieira, tall and athletic, has brought added steel to their midfield and Anelka and Emmanuel Petit were sometimes masterful.

It was Petit who conceived the pass which enabled Overmars to shake off Alessandro Pistone's puny tackle and go on to beat Given for the crucial opening goal in the 22nd minute. The shot, ironically, was mishit, but the effect was to beat the goalkeeper more easily than if the strike had been one from the textbooks.

After being out-played comprehensively in the first half, Newcastle dug deep to find the character which enabled them to run the game for long spells after the interval. Then, for the first time, centre backs Steve Howey and Nikolaos Dabizas and, not least, the admirable Alan Shearer found pockets of support erupting around them.

Shearer, often cast as a one-man strike force, radiated defiance all afternoon but cruelly, with Arsenal clinging to a 1-0 lead, was denied the goal his persistence deserved in the 65th minute.

Martin Keown's error gave him his only clear chance of the game, but with his England team-mate David Seaman beaten by the angled shot, the ball rebounded into play off the foot of an upright. Just three minutes earlier Dabizas had headed Lee's free-kick over the top of the crossbar and in those moments we sensed that the club's 43-year vigil for FA Cup fulfilment would continue. Apart from the shots which beat him Given didn't have a lot to do in Newcastle's goal, but he echoed the sense of a city's frustration when he said: "It was still all there for us until well into the second half, but to win cups you need luck on your side and we didn't have it today".

After joining the rest of the squad for a civic reception in Newcastle tomorrow the Irishman will visit a specialist for a report on a groin problem which may require surgery.

No less than the other members of Kenny Dalglish's team, this season Given has occasionally known a deeply fulfilling moment. The tragedy was that when they needed to be inspirational, too few of them succeeded in throwing off the chains of mediocrity.

Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Keown, Winterburn: Parlour, Vieira, Petit, Overmars; Wreh (Platt 63), Anelka. Subs not used: Bould, Wright, Manninger, Grimandi.

Newcastle United: Given; Pistone, Howey, Dabizaas, Pearce (Andersson 5), Barton (Watson 77) Lee, Batty, Speed; Shearer, Ketsbaia (Barnes 85). Subs not used: Hislop, Albert.

Referee: P Durkin (Portland).