Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1
Newcastle United made all the running and half-a-dozen good chances but had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in an entertaining FA Cup quarter-final at St James' Park tonight.
Arsenal, who won 2-0 on the same ground last Saturday to dent Newcastle's premier league title hopes, were without the suspended Thierry Henry and started with in-form Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp on the bench.
The tactic appeared justified when Brazilian Edu slid in front of Nikos Dabizas to touch home a low Sylvain Wiltord cross after 14 minutes in what turned out to be their only real scoring opportunity of the match.
Laurent Robert bounced a volley against the bar and Andy O'Brien had a header cleared off the line by Lee Dixon as Newcastle dominated the rest of the first half.
Robert equalised with a rare right-footer seven minutes into the second half after an Alan Shearer flick-on and Carl Cort, Nolberto Solano, Shola Ameobi and Robert all then missed good chances to win it for the hosts.
With Arsenal involved in Champions League games for the next two weeks, the replay is scheduled for March 23.
The three other quarter-finals are being played tomorrow. -Reuters