Adebayor Puts the Skids Under Newcastle

Persistence is too feeble a virtue to stop Arsenal, who were measured and deft in returning to the top of the Premier League. Newcastle, with nothing over which to reproach themselves, were beaten 3-0 here again. The last goal was smashed high in the net by Cesc Fábregas in the 82nd minute but Mathieu Flamini's conversion from distance had been even more spectacular shortly before.

Fábregas owed his chance to a lay-off from the substitute Nicklas Bendtner, who was sharing a pitch with Emmanuel Adebayor for the first time since they clashed at White Hart Lane last week. The emergence of Joey Barton from the bench from the visitors was noteworthy, too, since he had not played since the period in custody following his arrest at the end of last year.

Whatever the personnel, the visitors were diligent here and maintained their endeavor to such an extent that Nicky Butt hit the bar with a free-kick when his side was 3-0 down.

Before this game Kevin Keegan's gift for raising spirits had been confined to ensuring that morale was not harmed too much by a goalless draw with Bolton or the FA Cup defeat at this ground last Saturday. The manager might not have had a galvanizing effect, but there was healthy outlook in the ranks as the visitors showed the same competence and enthusiasm that had delayed the damage in what was ultimately a 3-0 defeat at the weekend.

For once players might have been believed if they had claimed to be unaffected by the restructuring at St James' Park that has inserted a whole tier of executives, including Dennis Wise, above the head of Keegan. The unsettling factors for the Newcastle side were introduced slowly yet methodically by Arsenal.

Even a manager like Keegan worries over the solidity of his line-up in a game such as this and his one alteration from the weekend was to replace the unsatisfactory left-back Jose Enriqué with Charles N'Zogbia, although the Frenchman would rather be a winger or a schemer. He would have preferred to be anywhere else at all when he got into the sort of difficulties that earned him a caution for his foul on the overlapping Bacary Sagna.

The booking did not come his way until the 35th minute and the visitors had scarcely required desperate remedies at that stage. It was, nonetheless, the confidence of Arsenal that made the match somewhat tame because they surely felt they merely had to be methodical for their talent to tell in the end. A goal came in the 40th minute, after they had once again concentrated on Newcastle's left flank.

Alexander Hleb passed the ball to Fábregas and he freed the breaking Flamini for a cross that Adebayor headed to notch his third goal in four days against these opponents. Two minute before, there had been signs that Newcastle were wilting a little when the Togo attacker had not been able to adjust to meet an earlier cut-back from Flamini and shot high.

There had been sang-froid to Kevin Keegan's team, never more so than when Shay Given realized that Adebayor was closing on him so fast that there was a danger of crashing a clearance against the forward. He resolved the dilemma by back heeling to concede a corner. There were more orthodox signs of a spirited attitude when Damien Duff eased a pass to the possibly offside James Milner, whose shot was blocked by William Gallas.

Attempts of that sort confirmed that there was no trepidation in Newcastle's ranks. Nicky Butt had been effective with his midfield tenacity and got another England international to aid him when Barton was introduced after 57 minutes. The latter was able to appear here courtesy of the alteration to the terms of his bail.

He last played on December 23, three days before he was charged with assault and affray. Now Barton knows that Keegan was in earnest when he promised him his full support. Nonetheless, Newcastle required precision as much as persistence and mostly lacked the accuracy to unsettle the Arsenal back four. Too often, there would be frustration as Michael Owen, in particular, was halted by an offside flag.

Regardless of that, there was a commendable amount of energy to Newcastle and the home support were being moved to recall that two of their three goals at the weekend had been delayed until the closing seven minutes.

It did not take quite so long to clinch this win. With 18 minutes left, passes from Diaby and then Fábregas put Flamini in possession thirty yards from the target and he sent a superb drive high past Given. Arsenal's sheer talent had once more been the undoing of Newcastle.