the guardian sailing close, but not actually touching the wind...and this IS David Lacey.

Newcastle hit summit in red mist

Two sent off as Arsenal blow table-topping chance

David Lacey at Highbury Wednesday December 19, 2001 The Guardian

Newcastle United are top of the Premiership and Graham Poll is bottom of Arsenal's Christmas list, always assuming there has ever been a Christmas list that long. The trilling man from Tring compounded one controversial sending-off with another at Highbury last night before awarding Newcastle United a bitterly disputed penalty late in the game that enabled them to take the lead before winning in London for the first time in 30 visits.

Five minutes from the end Sol Campbell appeared to dispossess Laurent Robert cleanly with a sliding challenge from behind after the Frenchman had been sent clear by Kieron Dyer's pass. Poll, however, decided that Campbell had also made contact with Robert, the penalty was given, and now Craven Cottage is the only Premiership ground on which Alan Shearer has yet to score.

A third goal in stoppage time, from Robert, brought Newcastle the winning margin they needed to leap from third place to first, level on points and goal difference with Liverpool but ahead on goals scored. However, the significance of the moment was lost as Poll left the field with a police escort shielding him from a furious Thierry Henry.

The French striker continued to confront Poll all the way back to the players' tunnel. Nevertheless a senior police officer stressed that Henry had not been arrested nor cautioned. That would have been all Arsenal needed.

Perhaps Henry's reaction was understandable. "Players are human beings after all," argued his manager, Arsène Wenger. Yet as Newcastle's manager Bobby Robson, his voice hoarse with the emotions of the night, insisted: "You've got to learn how to lose. They should learn how to lose around here."

Then again, Robson himself might have been less rational had his team been beaten after seeing Craig Bellamy, just back from suspension and cautioned in the first half, given a straight red card by Poll 18 minutes from the end for doing nothing more than catch Ashley Cole,who was challenging him from behind,with a waving arm.

Arsenal had been reduced to 10 men since the 43rd minute. Poll had cautioned Ray Parlour midway through the first half for an elbow on Nikolaos Dabizas. Now he adjudged the midfielder's trip on Shearer's trailing leg to be a second bookable offence.

Parlour's dismissal brought Arsenal's total of red cards to seven for the season and 39 in Wenger's six years as manager, a statistic that made his insistence that it was not his job to restrain protesting players like Henry appear a trifle bizarre.

Without a victory in the capital since 1997 Newcastle hardly approached London in the spirit of Dick Whittington. Only their stomachs turned at the sound of Bow Bells. And their hopes of going top remained strictly a matter of hypothesis as a combination of Patrick Vieira's authority, Parlour's aggression, the visionary skills of Robert Pires and Sylvain Wiltord's penetration promised to turn the night over to Thierry Henry.

Profligacy near goal, however, remains Arsenal's problem and Nwanko Kanu had missed twice before they went ahead after 20 minutes. From the right-hand byline Henry flicked the ball on to an instep before hooking a centre over his head. Pires was barged off the ball when he tried to reach it in the air but then turned a low shot past Shay Given after Cole had driven a cross back into the goalmouth.

Even after Parlour's loss and Wenger's reshuffle to leave only Henry up front, Arsenal continued to make chances. A striker, Nwankwo Kanu, gave way to a defensive midfielder, Giovanni Van Bronckhorst with Wiltord and Pires tucking in behind Henry. Henry might have scored twice in a minute had he made better contact after turning on to balls laid back into the penalty area by Pires.

When Newcastle did draw blood it was only from Martin Keown who carried on with a bandaged head after a colli sion with Shearer. But once Robson had brought on Lomana Lua Lua and Robert his team attacked on a much broader front.

O'Brien, ducking into the near post to meet Lua Lua's corner, nodded the scores level on the hour. Wiltord gave way to Dennis Bergkamp and when Bellamy departed Arsenal's hopes of victory revived. Shearer's penalty changed all that and Lua Lua's through pass enabled Robert to score, unmolested, during the six minutes of stoppage time.

Arsenal will hope to make up lost ground at Liverpool on Sunday. For the moment, however, Robson and Newcastle are in charge.

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

Answers

"Five minutes from the end Sol Campbell appeared to dispossess Laurent Robert cleanly with a sliding challenge from behind "

The words "from" and "behind" seem to make up my mind that it was a penalty. What happened to the laws about tackles from behind?

WE ARE TOP OF THE LEAGUE!

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001

I've seen the replay 3 times now and I still haven't seen the "clean contact" with the ball that is being widely claimed.

This is paranoid horse-dood by Arsenal, and in any event can someone please tell them:

* we won

3-1

not 2-1!

* Campbell was lucky not to have also got a red card.

This is not rocket science, Professor Wenger!

-- Anonymous, December 19, 2001