Arsenal close gap with win
Arsenal 1, Newcastle 0 (full-time)
Arsenal showed more signs of coming out of their winter slump as Sylvain Wiltord’s first goal since mid-September proved enough to earn their second consecutive Premiership win after a depressing run of five defeats in six matches in all competitions.
Newcastle battled gamely and Hugo Viana hit the woodwork late in the first half, but the Gunners should have had a few more even before the break and comfortably maintained their advantage to move within a point of leaders Liverpool.
Pires powered a shot over with eight minutes left from a Wiltord cross as Arsenal looked more likely to add to their tally than Newcastle did to equalise.
In the end the Gunners were more than happy to run the clock down and stay solid at the back, replacing scorer Wiltord with midfielder Edu in stoppage time.
