Newcastle 1 Arsenal 1:  Local lad Steven Taylor proved the hero as Newcastle rediscovered their form just in time for boss Sam Allardyce to hold Premier League leaders Arsenal 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 for the home support.

But 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.

Everton 1 Zenit St Petersburg 0:  Tim Cahill put Everton into the last 32 of the Uefa Cup with a late winner against the Russian champions, who played the final hour with 10 men.

Zenit suffered an unlucky red card and penalty award after 29 minutes when defender Nicolas Lombaerts was judged to have handled as he put a Tim Cahill effort behind.

But referee Kristinn Jakobsson sent him off for handball, awarding a penalty that Mikel Arteta blasted over the bar.

Everton struggled to impose themselves on this group A game but finally Cahill forced the ball home after Joleon Lescott had seen a shot blocked on the line.  PA