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Newcastle United	1 - 1	Arsenal
Half time:	0 - 1
Score Sheet:
(52) Robert		Edu (13)
	Teams
Given Hughes Distin Dabizas O'Brien Solano McClen Robert Acuņa Shearer Cort		Wright Dixon Lauren Campbell Stepanovs Vieira Ljungberg Grimandi Edu Kanu Wiltord
Substitutes:
Ameobi for Cort (70)		Pires for Ljungberg (57) Bergkamp for Edu (61)
Subs not used:
Elliott Harper LuaLua Bernard		Seaman Tavlaridis Kolo Toure
Bookings:
Hughes (23)		Dixon (88) Pires (90)
Sendings off:
n/a		n/a
Referee: Mark Halsey (Welwyn Garden City) - Should have sent Lee Dixon off.... just for being Lee Dixon. Is it just me or does anyone else also loathe and detest this piece of dirt as much? Yes, he has some previous (Ginola and some scumbag anti-Newcastle stuff in the press) but I'd like to think that it's not just that....
Attendance: 51,027  Seven more than the Man City game, making this the highest attendance in the competition so far this season. Will only be bettered by the final unless Old Trafford hosts a semi. Unfortunately two of our younger fans were missing, and are now desperately hoping that their dad can score some tickets for the Highbury return: Garth and Grant Merry were also suitably unimpressed by the state their father was in on Saturday night, and frankly amazed he could actually remember so many choruses of the Blaydon Races. What a pity he chose to sing them.

13 mins After Nolberto Solano surrendered possession near the halfway line, the ball was ultimately worked to Wiltord running across the edge of the Newcastle area towards the Milburn stand.

Although being shadowed by Sylvain Distin, he managed to make it to the byline before clipping over a low cross to the six yard box. With Shay Given on his line, Edu got in front of Nicos Dabizas to meet the cross and turn it home from close range. 0-1

Half time: Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1

52 mins A long ball out of defence found the head of Alan Shearer who flicked it on perfectly for Laurent Robert to run on to and bury a low swerving effort firmly into the corner of the Gallowgate net from about 20 yards out.

First to congratulate him, with a bear hug, was Shearer. 1-1

Full time: Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1

Uncle Bobby said: 

"There was nothing missing except the victory.

"Winning is always the priority - but Arsene Wenger is more pleased than me with the result and that tells its own story doesn't it?

"But it was a marvellous game - and the romance and magic of the FA Cup lived on at St James's Park tonight.

"And we're not out of it yet either - we'll have some of our injured players available for the replay and it should be another great game.

"Acuna and McClen were absloutely brilliant for us in the middle - they were never outshone by Vieira and Grimandi.

"People might have expected us to lose the midfield battle but we didn't, and overall we were the better side. And I have to add that I was very pleased with Laurent Robert too this evening.

"Arsenal rested some players but some good internationals replaced them - and they defended very well.

"I think in the first half we murdered them and got done with a sucker punch again. But we battled on and knew the next goal was very important."

They Said

Arsene Wenger said: 

"It was a real cup game.

"Newcastle gave everything physically from the first to the last minute. They played very direct football with (Alan) Shearer on the end of the long ball and (Carl) Cort as well, and gave us a lot of problems.

But we were up for it physically and were committed for 90 minutes, and we needed a lot of commitment and a lot of character and a lot of intelligence, and I would say maturity as well not to make the mistake that could have killed us.

"I would say, on the chances, maybe Newcastle were more threatening, but we've shown the resilience of a big club.

"I think as well successful teams and big teams get away with it because they show that kind of intelligence and maturity.

"It was a big, big game, and I think maybe we already had a few minds on Tuesday night. We play another big game and we're already focussed on that.

"I felt that I wanted to give Richard Wright a chance and I'm very pleased for him, he did very well. Pires had a hamstring problem and yesterday, I even considered leaving him at home completely.

"I wanted to give him a breather completely, and up front it was either Kanu or Bergkamp.

"Bergkamp needed a breather as well and in the next couple of months, we will need Kanu. And the rest were injured.
 

1,020,117 folks have officially watched United in all competitions this season at SJP this season. 1,628,220 home and away

This was our 148th competitive game against the Gunners, more than any other side. 

We scored our 222nd goal against the Gunners; second only to the 229 we've put past Man City. Edu's goal was the 206th conceded to Arsenal which is the same number as Spurs but still some way behind Villa (217), Man United (242) and Liverpool (244).

Robert's first FA Cup goal and our 32nd in Cup competitions this season. The Frenchman now has seven in 30 starts compared to David Ginola, who managed the same number of goals in 71 appearances (all competitions) and never scored in the FA Cup.

Don't get too excited about the replay - we've not won an FA Cup game in London since 1956, when we slipped past Fulham by 5 goals to 4 at Craven Cottage. Uncle Bobby might remember that...

Since then:

1956-57 Millwall lost 1-2
1973-74 Liverpool lost 0-3 (Wembley)
1975-76 QPR drew 0-0
1986-87 Spurs lost 0-1
1995-96 Chelsea drew 1-1
1996-97 Charlton drew 1-1
1997-98 Arsenal lost 0-2 (Wembley)
1998/99 Man Utd (Wembley)
1999-00 Spurs drew 1-1
1999-00 Chelsea lost 1-2 (Wembley SF)

NB: We've not counted the victory over non-league Hendon as it was played at Watford, which is never used in London stats.
 

There is something about the FA Cup and this club, something intangible that somehow persists, despite the world and his dog waffling on about it and a Match of the Day pundit tipping us every year to win it.

Even the sweet jar / coffee pot nonsense that is the draw cannot fully remove the magic of the whole occasion (although the balls / velvet bag combo is sadly missed.)

Two games on the same ground at the same daft time, and against the same opponents in the same week then, and the response from the home crowd was even more manic than in the league game.   

To misquote from Gregory's Girl (or Thunderclap Newman, mate) There was definitely something in the air, and it wasn't just the extended lunchtime boozing that had wound people up to the nth degree. It did undoubtedly help though.....

We may have assembled a squad of players from the four corners of the earth and Easington, but it has to take a special occasion, a special atmosphere and a special team talk to make the pride of Cramlington, Northumberland and Rancagua, Chile play like extras from Escape to Victory.

If the performance of any two players summed up the mood of the occasion it was Jamie McClen and Clarence Acuna. The former has many detractors (including us on occasion) but had the bottle and stamina to go toe to toe with the likes of Vieira, and must have been doing something right if he was still winding up Pires in the 90th minute.

The boy David, sorry Clarence was if anything even more industrious, and hared around the centre circle almost as if he was chasing his tail. Whatever they feed him must be good stuff, if they feed him at all.....

They both face the prospect of losing their places for the next game as more expensive talent returns, but their joint performance was the bedrock on which our display was built and they successfully calmed fears that we would be overrun due to a lack of presence in the middle of the park.

Even Robert seemed to have a whiff of something in his nostrils to go with his kick up the derriere and although the papers went a little overboard, by his recent standards he had a competitive game and contributed a good deal of effort as well as a memorable goal. 

He also stayed on the field for 90 minutes, and showed no signs of wanting to come off - had he been subbed, then the applause for him would have been equally genuine and deserved. He even tracked back and made a couple of well-timed clearances - maybe he felt he owed Distin a helping hand after the defender ended up baling him out on the wing at Anfield.....

The fact we went behind is now almost incidental, but at the time it was easy to see Edu's goal as the Graham Fenton moment - that precise time in the season that things went pear-shaped. Arsenal had done little before and fielded a side with their toon destroyers still moored on the bench, but there was still a momentary gasp from the crowd then silence.

However, neither crowd or toon players showed any signs of crawling away and licking their wounds, and were straight back into the fray. There was a tinge of desperation about both in the following few minutes, as the players frantically sought to rectify the situation and the crowd simply roared their support and encouragement.

Unlike the previous two games, there seemed to be a joint determination that this one wasn't going slip away. Reaching the break without conceding a second goal was a crucial point, allowing for a regroup as it had at Highbury, and thankfully we didn't have too long to wait before celebrating the leveller.

The release the goal brought cannot be underestimated. We'd been short on luck in the first half with the woodwork and Dixon's head frustrating us while Dabizas just put a header wide that would have no doubt triggered celebrations akin to those at the Stadium of plight. Had the game finished 0-0 we'd still have had a replay to come, but the collective boost that came from clawing back the deficit wouldn't have been there. 

At 1-1, with belief restored in the players, the crowd cranking it up further and a deep frown creasing Wenger's forehead, the stage looked set. Unfortunately we then proceeded to lose the last few pages of the script and although Arsenal's big lads couldn't save them from an unwanted replay, nobody emerged for United as a headline-grabber.

Cort narrowly failed to touch in a speeding low cross from the left, and the thought no doubt passed through half of the home crowd that Bellamy would have put it in. Shola made some incursions through the ranks of Arsenal's defenders, but crucially fluffed his shot twice when things looked to open up for him, and although he played his proverbials off, Shearer wasn't presented with a clear opportunity.

If there was a disappointment, it was in seeing the clearly unfit Cort labouring up front - trying his best but a long way from being a threat. However, the worst may be over and every game he plays boosts his fitness levels and further strengthens his mental recovery from his injuries. 

So we return to the scene of one of the greatest triumphs of our season, buoyed by having stopped the proverbial rot, and boosted by the possible return of Dyer, Speed and maybe Bellamy plus twice as many toon fans as made it last time.

History is against us as we travel to London, but where have we heard that before? We now stand all square with Arsenal - we've each won a game on each others ground by two clear goals and had one stalemate.

In addition, the Gunners have taken the lead in all three games, but only managed to win one - and at the time of writing we were the last team to win at Highbury and beat them full stop. 

Unless we suffer further injury calamities, we should go to Highbury in good heart with that all-important injection of pace going forward, and an absence of fear. Yet again Henry's post-toon victory temper tantrum will rule him out, while increasing Champions League and Premiership commitments could push Wenger further back against the wall.

We may have blown our best chance of making the semi's on our own ground, but in private Arsenal may feel the same about their failure to press home their advantage on Tyneside. 

Our mob can now return to the business of beating teams further down the league, boosted by the apparent show of unity that kept us alive in this game and dispelled the gloominess that pervaded after our recent double disappointment. Rule nothing out.

Biffa

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