It seems like it always happens to this team; no matter how great the game is going, I always have this feeling that they’ll let the other team back in it.  Today was the ultimate example.

Theo made me eat my words after the last game by finishing well to make it 1-0 INSIDE ONE MINUTE.  Arshavin sent Walcott through on that one, and then laid up a nice free kick for Djourou who scored his first ever Arsenal goal to make it 2-0 after THREE minutes.  Arshavin was looking like Russian we all like.

Then Theo did his usual thing by running past everyone to find RVP in the middle to go up 3-0 in the TENTH minute.  Newcastle didn’t look like they wanted to defend today and we looked like we wanted to score 100.  Too bad we didn’t.  We did find a fourth goal in the 27^th after Sagna (our best crosser…and defender…and worker most of the time) found RVP who was wide open again.  It looked like game over just after it had started.   Everyone was clicking--good finishing, good defending, and solid midfield play (Wilshere looks like a veteran at the age of 19).

Newcastle had a few chances around the half-hour mark, but Koscielny was doing extremely well today to clear the danger.   Maybe his call-up to the French squad for this week spurred some confidence and aggression into his defending.  I like it.

Barton was looking like the usual jerk after a harsh foul on Arshavin and a few other stupid antics, but nothing that hurt us too bad.  We went into the break up 4-0 with everything going well.

The second half was a different game.

Djourou went off injured in the 49^th and Squillaci came on to replace him.  This always scares me because Squillaci is old and he’s meant to be a reserve defender.  But since Vermaelen is dead this season, he’s been forced to play a lot more than anticipated.  Djourou is my first-choice center-back right now.

Then Newcastle took out some anger as one of the zebras tackled Wilshere from behind.  Should have been a yellow but it wasn’t.  Then Barton furthered his bad reputation by lunging at Diaby’s leg in the 50^th.  It was late, high, and unacceptable; he could have broken his leg.  And knowing Diaby’s history of injuries, it was understandable to see him rough up Barton in retaliation.  Barton wasn’t booked, and Diaby was sent off.   Hard to complain about the sending off, but Barton should have had his name taken.  Barton really is a jerk.  I bet most Magpie fans would agree (even though they love it).

The game was much more even now that we were down a man.  Szczesny made a great save in the 60^th after a lazy turnover from Arshavin (Bad Russian).  While he’s in this two-face mode, I think I’ll refer to him as either Good Russian or Bad Russian.

Walcott then had a chance to make it 5-0 in the 67^th, but a diving Newcastle defender blocked his shot.  The Zebras then ran down the field and won a penalty.  I have to say that I would have agreed if we had won that penalty.  But since Newcastle did, I disagree.  Barton of course stepped up and jerked it into our net to make it 4-1.  Then he tried to get the ball from Szczesny, but the Pole wouldn’t give it up easily.  Their captain, Nolan, then put our goalie into a headlock and tossed him to the ground.  The jerks took the ball and Szczesny was booked for time-wasting.  Nolan wasn’t even given a talking to!  He should have been given a yellow, if not a red.

Rosicky came on for the Bad Russian after the penalty.  Newcastle then seemed to be right back in it.  They were winning all the headers, and possession was pretty even.  We never looked like we were going to produce anything dangerous, and this trend continued the rest of the way.

Best (the wimp who went down too easily in the box) scored a goal in the 74^th but it was disallowed for offside.  He was onside.  Only a minute later, he scored again after overpowering Clichy to win a header inside the box that dropped nicely to his feet to finish past Szczesny.  4-2 and game on.

From the 75^th to the 80^th minute, Szczesny made a billion saves to keep us in the game and prove why he’s our #1 (err 53).  The defense was in shambles and the midfield was nowhere to be found.  Eboue came on to replace Theo in the 79^th.  1 goal and 2 assists for the little Englishman on the day.  We needed Eboue to do what he doesn’t and play smart, but he decided to be his old self and get a yellow for kicking the ball away from Newcastle on a free-kick to get booked.

The bad half continued as Jerk Barton lobbed in a set-piece to our far post and one of their players flopped to win a penalty.  Terrible decision.  Barton stepped up again and jerked it down the middle like a jerk to make it 4-3.  Eight minutes to go, and we were hanging on by our fingernails.

Newcastle kept plugging away and won a soft free-kick in the 85^th off to the side about 40 yards out.  The kick came in, we cleared it out, and some big black dude smashed it past Szczesny from about 25 yards out to make it 4-4.  Absolutely awful.  Why did we ever take the lead?  Just to give us all false hope of chasing down Man U for the title?  Probably.

Phil Dowd and his easy-penalty-giving crew tacked on five minutes to see if Newcastle could actually WIN the game.  Maybe the EPL executives made a call into his headset.  What else are those things for?  Nolan almost scored in the 91^st and RVP scored from an offside position in the 94^th as the game ended in a tie.  I hate ties.  And I hate comebacks when they’re not my team doing the comebacking.

We now have a week off before out next game against Wolves in the league.  We can only hope that Man U drop points and that we can get some magical Men In Black pens to help us forget about this game.