Football Live

Tuesday January 29, 2008 Finished Emirates Stadium

3 - 0

Arsenal

  • Adebayor 40’
  • Flamini 72’
  • Fabregas 80’

Newcastle United

  1. Arsenal return to the top

    Arsenal return to the top

    Emmanuel Adebayor, Mathieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas were on target as Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with another 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Arsenal
    • Newcastle United
    • 90+3' That's it and Arsenal go three points clear at the summit at least until Manchester United's home match with Portsmouth on Wednesday evening. Keegan has witnessed his team fail to score for a third consecutive match since his return to the hot seat.
    • 90' Ameobi reaches a long ball, cuts inside and shoots but it's straight at Almunia from close range.
    • 88' Fabregas is penalised for fouling Smith on the edge of the penalty area and Butt's free-kick is tipped onto the crossbar by Almunia.
    • 86' Nearly four as Hleb's pull back reaches Fabregas but he's off target with the Newcastle defence AWOL once more.
    • 84' Carr steams into Hleb who ducks the challenge. Smith gets involved verbally not for the first time in his career.
    • 82' Adebayor goes off to a standing ovation and Theo Walcott enters the fray.
    • 80' GOAL!!! A long free-kick over the top exposes a static defence. Bendtner chests the ball down and feeds Fabregas who fires home. It's all over now and Keegan has plenty of work to do with some schoolboy defending there. Cacapa is booked for protesting against the decision but he played everyone on side.
    • 77' Gilberto comes on for the impressive Diaby.
    • 75' Duff with a 20-yard effort but it fails to test Almunia.
    • 73' Shola Ameobi replaces Milner for the Toon.
    • 72' GOAL!!! Pick that one out. Diaby pulls the ball back to Flamini who unleashes a 30-yard piledriver into the top corner, leaving Given with no chance.
    • 71' Nicklas Bendtner replaces a rather quiet Eduardo and will team up with his old pal Adebayor in attack.
    • 69' Clichy finds Fabregas who turns the ball around the corner first time but Taylor is sharp to the danger.
    • 67' Adebayor squares to Flamini but his drive is too close to Given who holds.
    • 65' Just two shots at goal from Newcastle - hardly the dawn of Kevin Keegan's bright new attacking era.
    • 63' Sagny's cross is chested into the onrushing Flamini's path by AdebayorÂ…only for Cacapa to clear the danger with the French midfielder ready to pull the trigger from 12 yards.
    • 61' Vital header from Carr to prevent Fabregas' cross reaching Adebayor ten yards out.
    • 59' Arsenal win just their second corner but it is cleared at the near post.
    • 57' Joey Barton returns to the Newcastle side for the first time since December 23 as he comes on for David Rozehnal.
    • 55' Oh no, Flamini's shot from the edge of the penalty area screws off the outside of his boot for a throw-in.
    • 53' Diaby with superb trickery on the edge of the penalty area but blazes his shot over the crossbar.
    • 51' Adebayor chests the ball down sublimely but makes a complete hash of his attempted 20-yard bicycle kick.
    • 49' Chance for Newcastle as Smith gets the wrong side of Philippe Senderos but the Swiss gets back to block. The England "striker" has not scored a League goal since November 2005.
    • 47' Diaby tries an audacious 30-yard volley but it's about nine yards wide.
    • 46' The second-half is underway with no changes for either side.
    • 45+1' That's half-time, it's not been a classic but Arsenal are ahead.
    • 45' Almunia punches Newcastle's first corner away and then comes off his line to get to a ball over the top ahead of Owen.
    • 44' Sagna plays Milner onside and Flamini gets back to deflect the cross behind for a corner.
    • 42' Given races from his goal to meet a ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area but Hleb gets there first and he beats the keeper only for N'Zogbia to clear.
    • 40' GOAL!!! Flamini charges down the right flank after a deft pass from Fabregas and his perfect cross to the back post is headed home by Adebayor for his 16th League goal of the season.
    • 38' Best chance of the match as Hleb's reverse pass finds Mathieu Flamini in space on the right. He picks out Adebayor with his cross but the Togo striker volleys over the top from 12 yards.
    • 36' Eduardo bursts promisingly into the penalty area but carelessly loses control and Cacapa can escort the ball behind.
    • 35' N'Zogbia is booked for hanging out a leg which Sagna goes over. Smith clears the resulting free-kick.
    • 34' Seemingly a tackle from behind by Owen on Hleb but Riley waves play on only for Milner so stray offside.
    • 33' Adebayor's cross strikes the arm of N'Zogbia in the penalty area but the claims for a spot kick are waved away.
    • 31' Stephen Carr gets around superbly to clear Sagna's dangerous cross with Adebayor waiting to pounce from no more than five yards.
    • 30' Milner almost threads the ball through to skipper Owen but he is ruled offside although the England man is definitely level.
    • 28' The first corner of the match is comfortably cleared by Newcastle.
    • 27' Given lingers too long over a pretty routine backpass from Taylor and Adebayor almost nips in, the Irish custodian eventually opting to backheel the ball out for a corner.
    • 25' Good anticipation from Cacapa to cut out Clichy's through ball intended for the quiet Fabregas.
    • 23' Midway through the opening period, two attempts at goal, neither on target and in truth not much to report.
    • 22' Alan Smith is penalised for backing into Philippe Senderos and protests in his best Leeds accent to fellow West Yorkshireman ref Mike Riley.
    • 20' Hleb just needlessly gave the ball away in the area and is booked for a bit of a lunge on Michael Owen which certainly annoys Taylor.
    • 17' Hleb's cross is headed over the top from the flying Diaby who came in off the left flank.
    • 16' Adebayor and Eduardo try the 1-2 but Duff has worked hard to track back and tap the ball to Given. Diaby is back on the field.
    • 14' Dennis Wise in the stands after his surprise appointment yesterday - do you think he came in a taxi?
    • 12' Super play from Eduardo who easily goes past Claudio Cacapa in the penalty area but his cross into the centre is well cleared by Taylor.
    • 10' James Milner loses control and in stretching for the ball, goes over the top on Abou Diaby who leaves the field on a stretcher.
    • 8' The best move of the match so far and it needs a fine saving tackle from Steven Taylor to deny the marauding Gael Clichy a sight at goal after he instigated the attack.
    • 6' Charles N'Zogbia drops to left-back for the visitors tonight with David Rozehnal playing a holding role in midfield and Jose Enrique out of the 16.
    • 4' Damien Duff has the evening's first shot of the night but it is blocked by Sgana and goes out for a throw.
    • 3' The Gunners bring back Manuel Almunia and Bacary Sagna who sat out Saturday's 3-0 Cup victory over the Magpies whilst Alexander Hleb and Eduardo are in from the start.
    • 2' A long ball over the top almost finds Emmanuel Adebayor but the bounce falls into the hands of Shay Given.
    • 1' We are underway at the Emirates as the two sides go head-to-head for the second time in four days.

  • Team Stats

    Arsenal Stats Newcastle United
    57% Possession 42%
    12 Shots 7
    4 Shots on target 1
    1 Saves 0
    4 Corners 2
    13 Fouls 13
    1 Offsides 9
    1 Yellow cards 3
    0 Red cards 0
    21 Tackles 28
    422 Accurate passes 296
    52 Bad passes 45

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      24 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 1 0
      6 Philippe Senderos 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 44 4 2
      22 Gaël Clichy 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 43 9 2
      3 Bacary Sagna 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 50 1 1
      10 William Gallas 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 42 0 3
      4 Francesc Fabregas 1 2 1 2 0 0 1 49 8 1
      16 Mathieu Flamini 1 3 2 1 0 0 1 40 7 1
      13 Alexander Hleb 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 55 5 6
      2 Vasiriki Abou Diaby 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 22 8 5
      9 Eduardo da Silva 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 20 0 0
      25 Emmanuel Adebayor 1 3 1 3 1 1 0 27 5 0
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6 3 0
      19 Gilberto Silva 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 1 0
      1 Jens Lehmann 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      32 Theo Walcott 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      31 Justin Hoyte 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Newcastle United
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Shay Given 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 12 5 0
      27 Steven Taylor 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 18 0 2
      4 David Rozehnal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 7 0
      2 Stephen Carr 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 29 0 1
      6 Claudio Caçapa 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 26 0 4
      22 Nicky Butt 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 37 7 8
      14 Charles N'Zogbia 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 38 11 4
      16 James Milner 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 11 1 1
      11 Damien Duff 0 3 0 1 4 0 0 31 6 1
      10 Michael Owen 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 18 2 3
      17 Alan Smith 0 2 0 3 2 0 0 31 4 1
      23 Shola Ameobi 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 6 1 0
      13 Steve Harper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      7 Joey Barton 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 17 1 3
      38 Kazenga Lua Lua 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      30 David Edgar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90' Ameobi reaches a long ball, cuts inside and shoots but it's straight at Almunia from close range.
    • 88' Fabregas is penalised for fouling Smith on the edge of the penalty area and Butt's free-kick is tipped onto the crossbar by Almunia.
    • 80' GOAL!!! A long free-kick over the top exposes a static defence. Bendtner chests the ball down and feeds Fabregas who fires home. It's all over now and Keegan has plenty of work to do with some schoolboy defending there. Cacapa is booked for protesting against the decision but he played everyone on side.
    • 72' GOAL!!! Pick that one out. Diaby pulls the ball back to Flamini who unleashes a 30-yard piledriver into the top corner, leaving Given with no chance.
    • 40' GOAL!!! Flamini charges down the right flank after a deft pass from Fabregas and his perfect cross to the back post is headed home by Adebayor for his 16th League goal of the season.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    Captain: William Gallas

    Starting line-up

    • M. Almunia
    • B. Sagna
    • P. Senderos
    • W. Gallas
    • G. Clichy
    • A. Diaby Substitution Out (77′)
    • C. Fabregas Goal
    • M. Flamini Goal
    • A. Hleb Yellow Card
    • E. Adebayor Goal Substitution Out (82′)
    • D. Eduardo Substitution Out (71′)

    Subs

    • J. Lehmann
    • .. Gilberto Silva Substitution In77′
    • J. Hoyte
    • N. Bendtner Substitution In71′
    • T. Walcott Substitution In82′

    Injured

    • T. Rosicky
    • R. van Persie
    • J. Djourou
    • .. Denilson

    Suspended

    None

  • Newcastle United

    Manager: Kevin Keegan

    Captain: Michael Owen

    Starting line-up

    • S. Given
    • S. Carr
    • C. Caçapa Yellow Card
    • S. Taylor
    • C. N'Zogbia Yellow Card
    • J. Milner Substitution Out (73′)
    • N. Butt
    • D. Rozehnal Substitution Out (57′)
    • D. Duff
    • A. Smith
    • M. Owen

    Subs

    • S. Harper
    • S. Ameobi Substitution In73′
    • J. Barton Substitution In57′
    • D. Edgar
    • K. Lua Lua

    Injured

    • M. Viduka

    Suspended

    • B. Emre