Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry both went close for the visitors and Ray Parlour saw a viciously-struck goalbound effort superbly turned away by Shay Given.

But home strikers Carl Cort and Kevin Gallacher were equally, if not even more, impressive as they gave Tony Adams and Martin Keown a tough night's work.

At the back too, there were creditable performances from the home side in the face of a stern examination, and their reward was just a second clean sheet in 33 attempts.

It was a satisfactory result for both sides and, on the balance of play, a fair one, although it will perhaps have been Robson who left the ground the happier man as strains of "There's only one Bobby Robson" rang around the stadium just hours after he rounded on his critics.

Newcastle made two changes to the side which lost 3-0 at Liverpool last time out as Christian Bassedas replaced the injured Clarence Acuna and Stephen Glass came in for Wayne Quinn.

Arsene Wenger made three changes to his starting line-up as Bergkamp came in for Sylvain Wiltord, Lauren replaced Fredrik Ljungberg and Parlour returned at the expense of Gilles Grimandi. However, with the prize at stake, all three omissions were named on a strong bench.

Newcastle established a fortress at St James' Park last season as the dug themselves out of relegation trouble, but all too often during this term, the ramparts have been stormed with embarrassing ease.

But if the home fans turned up fearing the kind of mauling which their side endured in the corresponding fixture at Highbury - a 5-0 defeat back in October - they were to be pleasantly surprised.

Arsenal's pace and movement were at times frightening as Henry and Robert Pires in particular threatened to carve holes in the home defence, but on each occasion that the seemed certain to break through, a last-ditch tackle arrived to thwart them.

Pires scooped a fifth-minute effort over after Henry's delicious backheel had set him up and Bergkamp and Adams were both denied by desperate blocks from Andy O'Brien and Warren Barton respectively.

But far from sitting back and trying to soak up the pressure, Newcastle instead caused as many problems at the other end as their opponents.

Cort had gone into the game vowing to show the home fans just how good he can be, and despite the exalted company of England duo Adams and Keown, he made a real nuisance of himself.

He fired just wide from Nolberto Solano's cross on 10 minutes and sent a diving header even closer 14 minutes later, and he would have had a penalty had Lee Dixon not got away with a blatant tug on his shirt.

Cort was in good company as midfielders Glass and Solano ran at the visitors' defence and strike partner Gallacher worked tirelessly for a way through the Gunners' rearguard.

There was no let-up after the restart as Newcastle went straight back on to the offensive, Gary Speed smashing Cort's knockdown over the bar after good work by Barton and Solano down the right.

Henry scuffed a left-foot shot well wide on 49 minutes after Bergkamp and Vieira had exploited the space down United's right flank, and then Parlour fired well wide after Lauren had come out on top in a hard-fought midfield battle.

But as time ran down, the home side began to enjoy an increasing share of the possession.

Glass set the alarm bells ringing in the Gunners' defence with a 20-yard snapshot which blazed over Seaman's bar.

The England keeper had to beat away a 76th-minute Gallacher shot and there were fresh appeals for a penalty as Bassedas appeared to get a nudge in the back as he tried to reach Cort's header back across goal.

But it was Given who pulled off the save of the game 11 minutes from time after Parlour ran into space on the right and delivered a thunderbolt towards the top corner which the Irishman did brilliantly to turn away.

The tide had turned once again and Given had to be at his best to claw the ball away two minutes later after Adams returned Pires' corner across goal.

The home side had the final chance a minute from time when substitute Shola Ameobi collected Glass' pass 12 yards out - but he could not find the shot to beat Seaman.