Newcastle hold Gunners to a draw

Newcastle 0 Arsenal 0

Newcastle turned in a magnificent defensive display to deny champions elect Arsenal a winning end to their troubled week.

The Magpies were rewarded for their efforts with a point from arguably their toughest home game of the season to go level on points with fourth-placed Liverpool and keep their hopes of Champions League qualification alive.

But there was satisfaction too for Arsene Wenger’s side, who extended their unbeaten run in this season’s Barclaycard Premiership to 32 games despite resting Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires and fielding Thierry Henry amid his ongoing injury problems.

It took a fine save from Jens Lehmann to deny Craig Bellamy a sixth-minute opener and opposite number Shay Given kept out a Jose Reyes header with 14 minutes remaining to claim just his second clean sheet in 17 outings and a deserved point in front of a crowd of 52,141.

That shut-out was due on no small part to Jonathan Woodgate, who turned in a magnificent individual display to give England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson a further reminder of his quality, although the men around him were just as impressive.

Arsenal headed south seven points clear at the top of the table at the end of a gruelling nine days, a welcome sight after their FA Cup and European exits and within touching distance of the prize they have craved all season.

If victory would have brought a good end to a difficult week or so for the visitors, it would perhaps have been even more significant for Newcastle in their quest for Champions League qualification, and they set about their task with relish and determination.

Wednesday night’s UEFA Cup draw with PSV Eindhoven in Holland had strengthened their belief, and they might have gone ahead with only six minutes gone when, in the midst of a promising start, they put together their most incisive move of the opening 45 minutes.

Gary Speed found Alan Shearer in space down the right and he crossed low to the near post where Bellamy dragged the ball from behind him with an audacious back-heel. Lehmann had to get down superbly at the foot of his left post to deny the Welshman.

The fact that Henry was even in the starting line-up as he struggled to shake off a persistent back injury was a measure of the importance Arsene Wenger had placed on the game and, although at times he went about his job gingerly, there were glimpses of just why he is currently being spoken of as the best striker in the world.

It took a well-timed interception by Aaron Hughes to keep him out on 17 minutes, and seconds later, he went just inches wide from the edge of the penalty area after being set up by Reyes.

Newcastle were giving as good as they got, although they rarely troubled Lehmann again with Speed’s 31st-minute effort from distance about as close as they came in the remainder of the half.

But while the Gunners in general and Henry in particular stepped up a gear as the whistle approached, the excellence of Woodgate and Olivier Bernard, who got in a magnificent 35th-minute block to prevent Edu from capitalising on good work by Henry and Reyes, kept them out.

However, the Magpies almost shot themselves in the foot on the stroke of half-time when Jermaine Jenas, the man who gave away the late penalty which saw them lose 3-2 at Highbury in the reverse fixture earlier this season, played a suicidal back-pass to Given and could only look on in relief as the ring-rusty Sylvain Wiltord, making his first start since December, dragged his shot wide.

The high tempo continued after the restart with both sides showing plenty of enterprise but little cutting edge, although Bellamy was presented with a half-chance on 51 minutes after Speed and Jenas had mugged Patrick Vieira. However the Welshman miskicked as the ball fell to his left foot.

Laurent Robert tested Lehmann with a long-range free-kick on 55 minutes, but the alarm bells were ringing at St James’ Park seconds later when Vieira burst past Hughes down the Arsenal left and crossed for Reyes, who slipped past Woodgate but was hustled out by Andy O’Brien and Bernard as Given came to claim.

United continued to compete well, but they were almost caught by a sucker punch on 63 minutes when Henry, looking suspiciously offside, was allowed to home in on Given, who stood up long enough to force the striker wide, from where he could only shoot against the post with the angle narrowing by the second.

There was no sign of the pace dropping as the game entered its final quarter with both teams intent on victory, and the Gunners should have gone in front with 15 minutes remaining when Henry’s cross from the right evaded O’Brien to present Reyes with a free header, but he limply sent the ball straight at a grateful Given.

Defender Kolo Toure might have snatched victory at the death after meeting a Pires corner unmarked, but that would have been harsh on Newcastle, who were relieved to see his header fly wide.