Arsenal 7 Newcastle 3. Newcastle left Arsenal's Emirates having been on the end of a seven goal salvo from the Gunners that made it a sobering end to 2012 for Alan Pardew's beleaguered side. But just three days after being on the wrong end of seven goal thriller at Old Trafford, United once again left pointless despite having scored three times. This time the they succumbed in the closing stages of a thoroughly entertaining game to a team who had enjoyed a Christmas and Boxing Day break. And it showed. The Magpies were arguably the better side in the first half and had the majority of possession but were only still on terms after Demba Ba's free-kick was deflected into his own net by Jack Wilshere. Theo Walcott had given the home side the lead when he broke down our left, thanks to some ragged defending by Davide Santon and he passed the ball around Tim Krul with 20 minutes on the clock. But with the black and whites looking like rueing some good chances wasted as half-time approached got their slice of luck when Ba's dead ball kick found its way past Wojceiech Szczesny. The Gunners retook the lead just five minutes after the interval when a Danny Simpson throw-in went straight to the opponents and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was able to fire the ball beyond Krul's despairing dive. United remarkably came back for a second time when Gabriel Obertan raced down the left and put over an excellent cross that Sylvain Marveaux side-footed home from a yard out. Once again, though, parity only lasted a few minutes and this time Wilshere did the damage with a mazy run down the left that saw him cross just under the bar, Fabricio Coloccini performed miracles to clear the ball off the line but Lukas Podolski nodded the rebound in. However, Arsene Wenger's side were only in front briefly again and United remarkably came back for a third time, Marveaux turning provider with a great run and cross with the outside of his foot that Ba volleyed in with glee. It was a role reversal from Wednesday's defeat, having come from behind each time and this time there was genuine hope that we could go on to snatch a famous victory. But before Pardew's troops could regroup some more sloppy defending saw the ball fall to Walcott and he tucked the ball past Krul into the top corner from ten yards to break our spirit for the final time. Our lads visibly wilted at that point and the chances of coming back yet again looked slim and became wafer thin when substitute Olivier Giroud headed home from close range with five minutes remaining as Arsenal took a two-goal lead for the first time. A second for Giroud and an added time hat-trick goal for Walcott were cruel blows for a side that weren't just against the ropes but were being pummelled out of the ring. Despite the scoreline it was another performance for Pardew to be proud of but the stark facts are that we've lost eight of our last ten Premier League games and go into the New Year just three points clear of the drop zone. A visit from Everton in four days time will test the strength of the squad again but the Goodison comeback earlier in the season was an indication of this team's ability to bounce back within a game. That was something sadly missing from our relegation side of 2008-09 but it remains to be seen whether Pardew can keep that spirit alive through January and beyond. A mixed bag of results at the bottom reaches of the table meant that we remain 15th but Wigan, Southampton and Reading closed the gap while Aston Villa, Fulham and the mackems also tasted defeat. Full match report to follow. Team: Krul, Simpson (Ferguson 82), Perch, Coloccini, Santon, Bigirimana (Sh.Ameobi 82), Tiote, Cisse, Marveaux, Obertan, Ba. Subs n/u: Harper, Sa.Ameobi, Abeid, Streete. Booked: Santon. Goals: Ba 43,69, Marveaux 59. Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Giroud 74), Cazorla (Coquelin 85), Podolski (Ramsey 82), Walcott. Subs: Mannone, Rosicky, Djourou, Gervinho. Goals: Walcott 20,73,90+2, Oxlade-Chamberlain 50, Podolski 64, Giroud 84,87. Crowd: 60,087. An early report of the game from NUFC.com
I'm going to use an inappropriate analogy in description of the match, but one which is absolutely representative of my feelings just now. My favourite childhood film is Cool Runnings... If tonight's performance was Cool Runnings, the ending would have been thus... The bob crashes... "Dorice, you dead mon?"... Dorice is dead. Instead of proudly hoisting the bob across the finish poetically, they throw it at the nearest Jamaican fan, who just so happens to be Junior's dad, killing him instantly. Junior spits on his dad's squished corpse. They walk down past all the astonished and booing athletes, the German's call them pricks and agree they were right to cast aspersions in the first instance... Then instead of having their picture taken, they piss on the Olympic rings and get arrested... Hope I feel better, tomorrow... Hope when I watch Cool Runnings in a bit, it's not a recent re-make
You know when Bambi's mother died? If the animated classic had a few extra scenes where Bambi had a sneaky check on the status of dear mummy, only to witness the hunters humping the corpse.... That's how I feel.
Not a good way to feel. However tomorrow is another day and after a drink or two, or three or four, you might manage to get it out of your system.
You know Saw? Pretty gruesome and horrifying already right? Well imagine that film, but all the mutilations happen to puppies... I could go on all night, but I'm going to take your advice and have some orange squash
Off Topic. When I lived in Norway, I used to play for Oslo Rugby Club. In the club there was this wonderful Fijian bloke; mad as a box of frogs and had lived in the country for a good number of years and he became a half-way proficient cross country skier. By that I mean that he could shuffle around and get up and down hills, travel a few miles and back. All in the same day. So, the long and short of it he was the best Fijian cross-country skier so he represented them a couple of times in the Winter Olympics. We would look for him in the newspapers when representing the country and he'd often be at the bottom or second bottom. But never mind, he had a great time and we were dead proud of him in the rugby club.
