After the game Chris Hughton commented:

"‘I can understand the feeling of fans. 

"Of course I have sleepless nights but I have to stay focused for this group of lads. I am concerned but they cannot see me worry. I accept it is going to be a dogfight now through to the end of the season. We are well aware of the position. We have eight games left, we need to get enough results to stay in this division and we need to get results quickly.

"We’re disappointed with the timing of the (second Arsenal) goal, so quickly after we’d got back on level terms.  The incident with Steven Taylor was a normal one. He went off the park and unless the player is saying he can’t continue, you have to give him a period of time to get over the injury.

"I have had no indication that anything will change - Joe will be back at the time when he will be back, but apart from that, I am not aware of anything else.

"Mike (Ashley) wasn’t in the changing room at half-time. He came down to see the staff after the game. That’s normal for Mike. We spoke about the game. He was encouraged by the first hour of the game and, in particular, the first half, but shared our disappointment that we didn’t get more out of it."

When the dust finally settles on this season, United may look upon a ten minute spell of this game as the point at which hopes of retaining top flight status were irredeemably taken from their grasp.

With 57 minutes on the clock, United were deadlocked with the visitors and still dreaming of making it 1-0 against the Arsenal. By the 67th minute though, they'd gone behind, drawn level, lost another player through injury and lost the game - and with it, any semblance of shape and organisation.

In fairness though, that passage of play was just another in a sequence of blows that had rained down on Chris Hughton and his side since Saturday lunchtime. Some dubious decision-making from the match officials and a forgettable Everton performance had given Pompey three points in the early game, before late goals handed Blackburn a point and Stoke three in the afternoon kickoffs.

Defying suggestions that he was incapable of making decisive alterations to his side, the stand-in boss then dropped four players from the starting XI that failed to trouble Hull, demoting messrs Owen, Smith, Geremi and Gutierrez and replacing them with Lovenkrands, Nolan, Ryan Taylor & Duff.

That refashioned side started cautiously and little was seen of Martins before his 23rd minute opportunity to boost United's fortunes from the penalty spot. And although his weak right footer was easily smothered by Almunia, Newcastle maintained their attacking efforts and encouragingly, managed to fashion further chances for both Oba and Lovenkrands.

Some desperate tackling and quality keeping defied Arsenal and increased the conviction that this after all could end up being our day, as we reached the interval on level terms and still in the contest - as had been the case in the previous home game against Manchester United.     

By then though, Habib Beye had been thrust back into service after his three month absence as Bassong limped off through injury, before the Frenchman was forced to switch from right back to central defence when Steven Taylor was unable to continue.

Losing one central defender may have been slightly problematic, but being deprived of a second member of the back four proved to be decisive, as Arsenal instantly profited from our being a man short and then proceeded to tie us in knots once back to full strength.

Realistically the game was gone at 2-1 and Michael Owen's introduction was no more than statistical - his watching the penalty miss from the bench being one further example of our ill-fortune. Equally academic was the introduction of Ameobi, which was greeted by some mild booing, although the mass exodus from home sections at that point was as telling.

At 3-1 down, the atmosphere died - save for some crowing from the away section - leaving home fans to contemplate our remaining in the bottom three for at least the next fortnight. There were some positives to be taken as we strove in vain for a first home win in seven attempts - included a renewal of the interplay down the left between Duff and Enrique - but also much of deep concern.

Despite wholesale changes in midfield, Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor contributed as little as Geremi and Smith had done the previous Saturday, with the latter simply looking out of his depth and being caught time and again dithering on the ball, or let down by a woeful first touch. 

And once again, Coloccini's defensive shortcomings were exposed, with one horrendous first half slip in his own penalty area inexplicably going unpunished, thanks to some Arsenal profligacy.

Our next examination promises to be as rigorous as this, although Chelsea come to Tyneside with a Premiership record at SJP that hasn't always gone their way. However, some of the late season stagings of that fixture haven't seen them at full throttle.

By then Kinnear, Hughton and Calderwood will have had ample time to pick the bones out of this performance, not to mention make an assessment of the fitness or otherwise of Bassong & Taylor. 

From this quarter though, we're as mentally prepared for defeat as we were today and remain clinging to hopes that we can muster enough effort and quality to account for Stoke, Pompey, the smoggies and Fulham in a quartet of genuinely pivotal fixtures.

The dozen points possible from a quartet of victories remain the key to our survival, but whether we can hold our nerve by then remains a moot point, especially as things look like getting worse in the immediate future. For Chelsea read Arsenal though - scraping a result would be an immeasurable boost to all concerned, but a waste of a good performance. Playing like this against lesser teams is a habit we need to acquire quickly. 

Biffa