Bellamy in new Magpies row

Arsenal 1 Newcastle 0

Arsenal's 1-0 victory at Highbury keeps the gap at the top of the table to 10 points, with manager Arsene Wenger refusing to give up the chase.

But Dennis Bergkamp's first Premiership goal since August was not the talking point after the final whistle, and nor was Irish goalkeeper Shay Given's outstanding performance.

What gripped journalists in the pre-match conference was a war of words between Newcastle manager Souness and Bellamy, who was left out of the United side after storming off the training field on Friday.

Souness claims Bellamy told him he was injured as he walked off that day, only to declare himself fit on Saturday, and so the player was subsequently left in the stands at Highbury.

And it was the Newcastle manager who struck first when the whole sorry affair was given a post mortem.

"There was an incident which led to me having to have a meeting between the chairman, the player and myself. That will remain private.

"Craig Bellamy isn't happy in the position we're asking him to play sometimes. He goes about showing his displeasure in totally the wrong way. That's why he wasn't playing.

"He declared himself injured on Friday and fit on Saturday. We're trying to create a team spirit here. I'm only interested in having players at this club who give everything for the cause. The fans don't want to see petulance from players. They want 11 players out there working their socks off for the club. We're faced with a situation where that's not the case."

Souness' claims struck a nerve with Bellamy, however. The striker, who had been pencilled in to play on the left wing before he took matters into his own hands, quickly replied in an interview to state his own case.

"I don't feel I'm doing myself or the club justice in the position I've been asked to play," he insisted. "I've tried to keep silent but it's been a long day for me and it's been a tough one. I walked off the training ground, which I don't want to go into, and went to speak to the manager and thought I had got results. I came here today, knew I wasn't playing, but then I wasn't even on the bench.

"It disappoints me. I've done nothing since the new manager came here but train as hard as I can. The fans have seen me week in week out play out of position and try to do the best I can. There comes a time when you want to play in your right position.

"It's a tough period for me and the last thing I want for is for the people of Newcastle and the fans to think I don't want to play for this club."

Souness, renowned as a disciplinarian, was clearly unnerved by the whole episode especially when told Bellamy refuted his manager's claims that he had declared himself injured. And his parting words, ominous ones surely for the Welshman, were that the situation would be 'addressed in the week'.

Arsenal's performance gave their fans hope that their team is on the way back.

Bergkamp's 20th minute opener, when he calmly slid home a shot from 10 yards following a Matthieu Flamini flick, was scant reward for Arsenal's overall dominance which saw them pepper Newcastle's goal for most of the second half.

Keeper Given made at least four stunning saves, including two world class ones, firstly from Robert Pires and then Thierry Henry.

"Their keeper was fantastic but for us it was important to win today because we have dropped too many points at home with draws," said Wenger.

"We take the position of Chelsea as a challenge now. They are in a very strong position. But we want to go as far as we can and give them a real challenge.

"You can't say to your players 'Chelsea are 10 points ahead now and the championship is over' Let's try and win it.

"This game is a good inspiration to give us that belief we can do it again. It looks unlikely but the only thing we can do is not look too much at Chelsea, let's just do our best."

That's exactly what Arsenal did at Highbury as they created a string of chances that only Given at his very best was able to repel.

There's no doubt that the home team were under pressure to win after Chelsea had continued their seemingly inexorable run to the title with a comfortable victory over Portsmouth 24 hours earlier.

Defeat against Newcastle, therefore, was unthinkable for the champions, and they almost took the lead in under a minute.

Ashley Cole crossed from the left, Pires headed back across goal and Flamini's close-range effort was only just cleared off the line by a combination of Titus Bramble and Given.

Bergkamp's goal settled things down after that and in the second half the chances seemed to arrive at the rate of one every five minutes, starting with an Henry free-kick that was smartly saved by Given at full stretch.

The Irishman made an astonishing save to deny Pires from eight yards after 66 minutes, and then produced an even better stop to keep out an Henry effort one-handed.

Chelsea will certainly be wary that Arsenal, who are now unbeaten in a record 32 home games, are on the comeback trail.

As for Newcastle, their off-the-field problems just rumble on and on and until they are resolved it is impossible to imagine them ever challenging at the top of the Premiership.

That, more than anything, will be Graeme Souness' biggest regret as he ponders how to deal with Bellamy.

Arsenal: Almunia; Cole, Campbell, Toure, Lauren; Reyes (Fabregas 89), Vieira, Flamini, Pires; Bergkamp, Henry. Subs not used: Lehmann, van Persie, Cygan, Eboue Booked: Reyes, 45, Vieira 73

Newcastle: Given; Bernard, Boumsong (O'Brien67), Bramble, Taylor (Hughes 45); Robert (N'Zogbia 56), Jenas, Bowyer, Dyer; Ameobi, Shearer. Subs not used: Kluivert, Harper Booked: Taylor 16, Bowyer 43, Jenas 90

Referee: Steve Dunn