Newcastle eased the pressure on under-fire manager Sam Allardyce with a battling 1-1 draw against leaders Arsenal at St James's Park.

Emmanuel Adebayor gave the visitors a fine start with a cracking fourth-minute strike, although Newcastle responded with a stirring performance, capped by Steven Taylor's deserved equaliser on the hour.

After successive home defeats that had a section of pundits and Geordie fans doubting the credentials of once-trumpeted boss Sam Allardyce, a point against the unbeaten Gunners will come as a blessed relief.

And equally, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be satisfied to have extended his lead over Manchester United to four points, and earn a positive result against a manager who often had the better of him when he was in charge of Bolton Wanderers.

Despite Toon owner Mike Ashley's reassurances that the job of boss Allardyce was not under threat, there was a definite tension around St James's Park at kick-off.

And it took only four minutes for Arsenal to stick the boot in further, although the visitors were helped in no small part by a mistake from makeshift left-back Charles N'Zogbia.

Emmanuel Eboue easily cut out the young Frenchman's weak attempted clearance 35 yards out before picking out Adebayor, who had quickly ghosted in unmarked to the penalty spot.

There looked plenty still to do, but a killer piece of chest control brought the ball down before the lanky Togo striker swiveled and crashed a fierce volley past Shay Given before the keeper had time to react.

Newcastle, roared on by an indignant capacity crowd, responded well and Geremi should have equalised within a minute, but the captain headed James Milner's cross wide.

Adebayor almost doubled Arsenal's lead in the 17th minute, although he was crowded out after beating two men in a run from midfield, and Gilberto later flashed an instinctive shot wide after a corner found its way through to him at the far post.

The home side thought they should have been given a 35th-minute chance to level from the penalty spot after a perceived shove on Steven Taylor at a corner as the young defender climbed to plant a header goalwards, a header which Manuel Almunia was forced to tip on to the post.

Newcastle's promising finish to the first half dampened any temptation Allardyce might have had to mae a change at the break, and Newcastle were rewarded for a strong start to the second period with a deserved equaliser.

Arsenal failed to properly fail a free-kick on the hour, allowing Geremi to send a cross back into the area; Smith flicked on, Obafemi Martins intelligently dummied and Taylor span to fire inside the near post.

The goal really lifted the Geordie fans and put the Gunners on the back-foot for a while, although the final half-hour, while full of tension and aggression, produced little in the way of chances.

Keepers Given and Almunia still needed to be on their toes to see off the danger of a series of crosses and corners fired in to crowded penalty areas in the final stages, but ultimately neither side did enough to force a winner.

Taylor came closest when his close-range effort was deflected behind by Eboue as the ball dropped to him inside the six-yard box at a corner.

Alex Sharratt / Eurosport