Very biased reports on BBC, Reuters, etc. Found one decent one on dailysoccer ("Campbell chopped down Robert" all the rest say Campbell got the ball) here it is :

Newcastle break London jinx to go top of Premiership LONDON, Dec 18 (AFP) Newcastle went to the top of the English Premiership on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over Arsenal at Highbury in a match that finally saw the Geordies break their London jinx. However, the game will be remembered most for a series of controversial decisions by referee Graham Poll which resulted in two sendings off - Ray Parlour of Arsenal and Newcastle's Craig Bellamy. The come-from-behind win by Bobby Robson's men was Newcastle's first win in the capital in 30 matches, although that sad sequence looked like continuing until two decisive goals from ex-England skipper Alan Shearer and Frenchman Laurent Robert were scored in the last five minutes./p Arsenal were left wondering where it had all gone wrong after they had taken the lead and dominated the first 45 minutes Nigerian star Kanu should have given the Gunners the lead in the 18th minute. He was put through by Parlour, who won the ball in midfield, and his pass fell invitingly at the feet of Kanu who managed to scoop the ball over the top of Shay Given's goal with the target gaping. However, Arsenal's pressure eventually told in the 20th minute with a goal which was due to an individual piece of brilliance from Thierry Henry. The French international decieved the Newcastle defence with an overhead kick from the edge of the area. The ball fell to Parlour whose quick cross was slotted home by Robert Pires for his sixth goal of the season. Arsenal kept pressing against a very disappointing Newcastle side who became increasingly frustrated. That began to show when both Gary Speed and Craig Bellamy, back in the side after a one match ban, were booked for dissent. In a heated opening half, Patrick Vieira joined Parlour in the referee's book and Gunners' boss Arsene Wenger's mood would not have been improved by the sending-off of Parlour just three minutes from the break. Having been booked for a foul on Nikolas Dabizas earlier, referee Graham Poll then showed the England midfielder the red card for a foul on Shearer. Wenger was outraged and even Shearer pleaded on Parlour's behalf. Newcastle equalised on the hour mark courtesy of a header from Andy O'Brien who notched his first goal of the season. The Geordies could have been forgiven if they thought of hanging on for a point especially when Welsh international Bellamy was sent off for a foul on Ashley Cole in the 72nd minute./p However, it was a decision that sparked a spectacular response from Newcastle as they took the lead with five minutes left. Sol Campbell chopped down Robert and the referee pointed to the spot - Shearer gratefully accepted the opportunity to score the penalty. It was the striker's first career goal at Highbury. Arsenal looked for the equaliser but were caught on the break in injury time as Robert skipped away from his markers and slotted the ball home to give Newcastle their first win in London since they beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in November 1997.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Answers

Here's another amusing one off soccerage

Newcastle are top of the league (Allsport) 12/18/2001. Newcastle United have moved to the top of the Premier League after coming from behind to beat Arsenal 3-1 at Highbury, for their first win in London in 30 attempts. The match was full of talking points from start to finish as both sides were reduced to ten-men while Newcastle's crucial second goal was scored thanks to a very dubious penalty. Arsenal didn’t allow Newcastle to find their feet in the opening twenty minutes of the first half as their pace and attacking quality overwhelmed the Magpies’ shell-shocked defence. However in typical Arsenal style they failed to make the most of their dominance, largely thanks to a comical miss from Nwankwo Kanu. It is the season for showing the year’s bloopers and in the festive spirit the Nigerian added his offering for the 'Worst miss of the year'. Kanu's blushes were spared soon after though as superb work from Thierry Henry led to Arsenal's deserved opener. The Frenchman crossed the ball over his head causing confusion in Newcastle's defence and Ashley Cole knocked the ball back for Robert Pires to score. As half-time approached memories of Arsenal's last Premiership defeat would have been flooding back as on that day Arsenal outplayed Charlton for the opening half hour but only had a one goal lead to show for their efforts. The next thing they knew they were 4-1 down after Charlton had their first four shots of the game. Tonight’s referee Graham Poll must be making a Christmas video of refereeing blunders without having any footage as during this match he made enough mistakes for a trilogy. His first serious error came just before the break as he inconceivably sent-off Ray Parlour for a second bookable offence for a meaningless tackle that certainly didn’t warrant a yellow-card. Arsenal came out for the second half with a uphill task to maintain their advantage as Newcastle had the ascendancy due to their numerical advantage. They made their extra man tell on the hour mark as Andy O’Brien lost his marker, Thierry Henry, to nod home a near post corner. Then returned the ‘Graham Poll Show’ as he decided to reduce Newcastle to ten-men after Ashley Cole fell to the ground following a clash with Craig Bellamy, who had been booked in the first-half. Firstly Cole deserves an Oscar for his performance in the affair and secondly Poll felt the Welshman’s mere contact on the English defender warranted a straight red-card. With the numbers on each side level once again you felt Arsenal would regain control but it wasn’t to be as with five minutes remaining second-half substitute Laurent Robert raced clear of Arsenal’s defence with only Stuart Taylor to beat. Just as the Frenchman was about to strike along came Sol Campbell with a truly world class tackle to send the ball out of play for a corner. However as with everything else this evening Poll misinterpreted the situation and awarded Newcastle a penalty. Alan Shearer stepped up and calmly converted the spot-kick to give Bobby Robson’s team their best chance yet of a win in London. It should be pointed out that the referee made another error as he should have sent off Campbell if he felt the defender had made a foul as he was the last man and in his eyes at least denied Robert a goal scoring opportunity. To rub salt in the Arsenal’s painful wounds Robert again raced clear to stretch his sides lead in stoppage time and in doing so moved the North East outfit above Liverpool on goal difference. It is safe to say we have not heard the last of this match as after the game Arsenal’s striker Henry had to be restrained by stewards, coaching staff and players as he remonstrated with the referee and will surely now find himself in hot water with the FA. While the Football Association are dishing out their punishments they should sack Mr. Poll after the worst piece of refereeing I can remember seeing.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Henry Winter in the Torygraph's blotted his copybook, I'm afraid.

I usually quite like him - here he's letting his Gooner affiliations get the better of him, though.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Oh no! I usually love Henry Winter! He's spoilt it for me now though after that.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Newcastle duo laugh off Premiership hopes

Tuesday 18th December 2001

Newcastle manager Bobby Robson and captain Alan Shearer insisted that their side would not win the Premiership despite topping the table after their 3-1 win at Arsenal.

The controversial game saw Newcastle claim their first win in London for four years. Both teams were to ten men by referee by Graham Poll, who awarded the visitors a controversial late penalty.

"In the first half hour there was a slight gulf in class," admitted Robson. But then Ray Parlour was dismissed and that, the 69-year-old felt, was a turning-point.

He added: "It was a dramatic evening. They were what people might have called controversial decisions. I don't think it was an easy match for the referee. There was nothing violent. There were two dismissals but they were not for bad play.

"We said at half-time to the players that Parlour had been sent off and we didn't want to give the ref any chance to square it up. We told them to stay out of trouble. We scored three goals and I think we deserve it. When they got the goal I thought it would be a game we would not see much of."

Alan Shearer, who scored the crucial second goal from the penalty spot after Sol Campbell was adjudged to have fouled Laurent Robert, said: "It's sod's law because we knew this would probably be the toughest game. With 11 against 11 we might have struggled to get back into it.

"It's very hard to blame the refs because they are put under so much pressure. I didn't know what to think when the ref gave a penalty. We are delighted. That puts us top of the league, doesn't it?

"We knew we would have a chance if we got a goal. We knew after half- time with them going down to ten men. We knew the ref was going to even it out and he did." Shearer had another reason to celebrate as it was his first goal at Highbury.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: "We are frustrated but I would like to remain positive. The decisions went againstus but I'm proud of my team tonight even if we lost.

"You have seen the game like I have seen – my team payed well and that's it. I don't speak about the referees – never. We losy a lot of energy as we were down to ten men and it was too much. After that it was very difficult."

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Campbell did get the ball.

But do I give a sh*t? :)

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

Screachie has just texted to say he was on the telly!

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

......bloody poser!

-- Anonymous, December 18, 2001

"his first yellow was understandable enough coming for a push on Nikos Dabizas" - Henry 'not Geoff' Winter, Torygraph.

Push? He put his forearm through the back of his head!

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

I'm not great at the match reports, but having had the privelege of being there, I need to at least say something

Met up at the Drayton with Terry (Mysterious), Screacher and Geordie. The atmosphere slowly built up to a crescendo of over optimistic (ha!) bravado, and attracted a few Gooners who were obviously frustrated at the lack of any pre-match atmosphere at the 'home' pubs. I get the feeling they see us a bit of a curiosity.

Anyway Geordie went off to his champagne and prawn sandwiches, whilst Tery and I took up decent seats 2/3 of the way up the away stand, to the left of goal. Screach was a bit further down I think. Arsenal were impressive and very dangerous in the first half. They had 10 shots on goal, but to be honest most of them were handled fairly comfortably. Their goal should never have counted though, due to a hand ball. Impossible to see how much contact was made, but the arm went up deliberately as the ball came across, and at the very least distracted our defence for that split second. Collective sighs of oh well all round. The referee at this stage was giving everything Aresnal's way, apart from the booking of Parlour and Viera who were putting it about in midfield. They were too much for Speed and Dyer, and the movement of their front men was testing the back four to the limit - BUT WE DIDN'T CRUMBLE. Then Parlour drags down Shearer (I think) from behind, and Poll once again does us a favour by sending off a key player. Half time came as a mixture of relief that we weren't further behind and a glimmer of hope that we now had a man advantage. The scoreboard showed we hadn't had a single shot on goal, and the Arsenal fans jeered smugly. Oh how sweet that felt afterwards

Second half saw us come out unchanged. A bit scrappy, but we were starting to get more possession. The real change came with the introduction of Lua Lua and Robert, and suddenly Arsenal were beginning to look stretched. The equaliser came almost immediatedly, and thoughts of scraping a point started to forment in my mind. To be honest, I expected Arsenal to score at least one more.

Then Bellamy gets sent off. Quizzical looks all round. Eh? Did Bellamy's tongue trip someone up from 10 yds? Without the benefit of a replay it seemed a bizarre decision to say the least, but ultimately not unexpected - just a resumption of the normal order of things lest we get carried away. BUT NO. We grafted hard and made the most of our opportunities. It was Robert, I think, who broke free and was tackled from behind for the penalty. I couldn't bear to watch - heart pumping away. GOALLLLL! We went wild. SHEARER! Deafening chanting. Silence from the Gooners to the right. Thoughts of a win still not entertained, but must have a great chance of a point now. Not enough time to calm down before a very scary moment - not Robert's nicely taken goal, but Terry's amorous overtures :-) I escaped lightly by the sounds.

Final whistle took an age, but allowed the moment to be savoured just that little bit longer. When the final whistle did go, there was almost a reluctance to leave. The players came over to salute the fans. Robert slung his shirt to the crowd. Shearer wallowed in the congratulation. One last look at the ground before hopefully further celebrations dwon at the Drayton.

But after floating down there on cloud nine, chatting elatedly to bemused but generally good natured Gooners, we found the place closed up, although we could see some people had managed to get in (including Screacher). Still, found somewhere else nearer Islington to savour the moment longer before heading back across town with a silly grin. It must have been good, because as soon as I got back my two year old daughter woke up being sick, and I just merrily cleaned her up, hugging her at every opportunity depite the smell and warm chunky bits I kept finding between my fingers........

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

Sorry you couldn't get in Pete. If it's any colnsolation, I guess the smell in the DA was gonna be similar to that you experienced at hyem. We escaped after 2 pints to catch the tube. Shame - 'cos it looked like being a canny lock-in ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 20, 2001