Newcastle United 1-1 Arsenal
/ RivalsDM
Posted: 2 hours ago
Steven Taylor was the hero as Newcastle rediscovered their form just in time for Sam Allardyce to hold Arsenal to a 1-1 draw at St James' Park.
The 21-year-old struck on the hour to end a run of three successive home league defeats to relieve the pressure on their beleaguered manager.
After a run of five games which had yielded just one point, the prospect of an Arsenal rout on Tyneside, where both Portsmouth and Liverpool had won at a canter in recent weeks, was too much to bear.
However, Allardyce's men produced a performance of real character despite Emmanuel Adebayor's delicious fourth-minute opener to deny the Gunners a six-point lead at the top of the table and prevent themselves from slipping to a third successive home defeat for the first time in the Premier League.
A single point alone may not turn Newcastle's season or Allardyce's fortunes around, but the bulk of a crowd of 50,305 went home confident that better times lie ahead for the first time in weeks.
They will hope their side can build upon that platform when Birmingham head for the north-east on Saturday with pride restored and the relationship between players and supporters, which has appeared strained at times, renewed.
Allardyce and owner Mike Ashley shared a joke in the directors' box before kick-off on a night which was perhaps never going to be decisive for the manager, but was one on which his team needed to provide hopes that things will turn.
The smiles, however, had disappeared within four minutes as a piece of sheer quality illuminated the Tyneside night.
Unfortunately for the vast majority of the spectators, it came from a man in a red and white shirt as Adebayor, who had earlier earned the jeers of the home fans for complaining about Taylor's innocuous challenge, silenced them with a breathtaking finish.
Whether or not he should have been allowed to get in between central defenders Taylor and David Rozehnal will no doubt have been discussed in the dressing room at half-time, as the Togo striker controlled Emmanuel Eboue's cross on his chest before thumping an unstoppable volley past Shay Given.
It was just what Allardyce and his players did not need, but to their credit - and backed by fans who had booed them mercilessly during and after their 3-0 home defeat by Liverpool 11 days earlier - they fought back.
Few teams in the Premier League can match Arsenal's movement and passing, and the current crop of Magpies are not one of them.
However, there was no faulting their effort, commitment and desire to scrap for their lives as Joey Barton and Nicky Butt snapped into challenges and Alan Smith, playing in his favoured striking role, caused the Gunners problems throughout.
While Arsene Wenger's men were at times almost irresistible on the counter, Newcastle tried to hit back, and where they had not managed a single shot on target against Liverpool, threatened on several occasions.
Skipper Geremi saw a looping header fall just wide with Manuel Almunia beaten seconds after Adebayor's strike, and then sent the keeper full-stretch to keep out his 28th-minute free-kick.
Almunia just managed to get a hand to Taylor's goal-bound header 10 minutes before the break and Obafemi Martins saw a gilt-edged opportunity pass him by when Smith's 40th-minute flick-on skidded across goal without the Nigerian getting a touch.
The half-time whistle for once brought warm applause, but Newcastle returned knowing the hard work had barely started.
They started brightly once again as Charles N'Zogbia warmed Almunia's hands with a rising left-foot strike from distance which might have caused him real problems had it been set off a yard to his right.
But the threat posed by the visitors was reinforced on 50 minutes when Tomas Rosicky effortlessly made space for himself to play in Eboue down the right, although the full-back wastefully picked out only Given at his near post.
Gilberto threw himself into the path of Geremi's 53rd-minute shot, but it took some fine recovery work from Rozehnal and Barton at the other end seconds later after Adebayor had flicked the ball around the Czech defender and launched a lightning break with Rosicky.
However, Newcastle got their reward on the hour when Smith flicked on Habib Beye's cross and Martins dummied it for Taylor to fire home off the foot of the post.
Arsenal were clearly rattled as the Magpies sensed the tide had turned, but as time ran down, they started to find their feet once again.
However, although they continued to play with a swagger as the final whistle approached, it was the home side who came closest to winning it at the death.
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