Newcastle 0 Arsenal 1

When Olivier Giroud injured himself and was then swiftly booked in the wake of a clumsy first-half tackle on Cheik Tiote it seemed to confirm the impression that Arsenal's centre-forward was having a bad day at the office.

Appearances can be deeply deceptive, though. By way of proving the point, Giroud’s faint, headed connection with a second-half free-kick from the otherwise similarly disappointing Theo Walcott ensured Arsenal would see the new year in from the top of the league.

Scrappy, barely deserved, victories are hardly Arsene Wenger's hallmark but this one delivered an important message to Manchester City and company.

Very happy
"I'm very happy, it was a very tense game against a very good Newcastle side," said Arsenal's manager. "We have shown another aspect of our team; resilience and fight. There's a great solidarity in the side. We believe in ourselves. We are determined."

Alan Pardew’s sole consolation was Wenger’s assertion that he is not interested in luring Yohan Cabaye from Tyneside next month. “I’m disappointed for the players and our fans,” said Newcastle’s manager. “It was a very even, tight, really interesting game. I don’t think we’ve done much wrong.”

The only possible criticism of Pardew was his decision to begin with the richly gifted Hatem Ben Arfa on the bench, preferring Yoan Gouffran as the left-sided attacking midfield element of his 4-2-3-1 formation. Part way through the first half Ben Arfa returned to the home dugout after a brief warm-up and, en route, stopped off by the visiting technical area to share a joke with Wenger.

If Tynesiders feared the pair may have been plotting a future together in north London, Wenger could well have simply been imploring Ben Arfa to stay put as substitute. It is hard to argue with a manager whose side kicked off having won seven and drawn one of their previous nine games but, not for the first time, Pardew's omission of his most gifted individual from Newcastle United's starting XI seemed a shame.

Collective talent
An opening half that never really quite got going could certainly have done with Ben Arfa's fancy footwork. For all the wonderful collective talent on view – though a shoulder injury deprived Arsenal of Mesut Ozil – clear-cut chances were rare.

Cabaye’s biggest creative input was supplying a long diagonal pass for Mathieu Debuchy, which the otherwise excellent right-back could not quite control. Not that Cabaye had a bad game; he and his team-mates excelled in the slightly more destructive discipline of refusing Arsenal time to settle or establish any sort of passing rhythm.

While Jack Wilshere had his midfield moments he found himself frequently frustrated by Tiote, Cabaye and friends. Although Santi Cazorla’s change of pace presented Newcastle with sporadic frights, the home goalkeeper Tim Krul was largely well protected.

Wojciech Szczesny was hardly overworked but Arsenal’s goalkeeper was probably relieved when Mathieu Flamini’s clumsy challenge on Moussa Sissoko on the edge of the area did not result in a penalty.

Sissoko nearly scored shortly before the break, the midfielder seeing a powerful shot fingertipped away by Szczesny after a wonderful home break initiated by Laurent Koscielny’s rare sloppiness and Vurnon Anita’s quick-thinking incision. From the ensuing corner, Debuchy’s header struck the underside of the bar.

With the stalemate persisting and the hour mark reached, Pardew finally introduced Ben Arfa but before he could make an impact, Giroud scored. Cazorla won a free-kick against Tiote 35 yards out and, by delicately heading Walcott’s poorly defended free-kick beyond Krul, the striker reminded everyone he should never be written off.

Walcott soon followed suit; only Debuchy’s late intervention on the line prevented him putting Arsenal two up. Newcastle had another forlorn penalty shout when Flamini seemed to foul Debuchy.

Wenger's replacement of Walcott with Carl Jenkinson, a defender, confirmed Arsenal's intentions. "It's just frustrating we haven't got a point," said Newcastle's manager. "The margins were so fine."
Guardian Service