We make our longest journey of the Premier League season on Saturday when we take on Newcastle United, but some of our past treks to the north-east have proven to be memorable ones.
We’ve enjoyed some great victories at St James’ Park during the past three decades, and we’ve delved through our archives to pick out five of the best.
Take a trip down memory lane with this quintet of classics against the Magpies:
November 30, 1996
Newcastle United 1-2 Arsenal
Our first win against the Toon in the Premier League came on our fourth visit, and against Kevin Keegan’s star-studded squad. Lee Dixon’s diving header handed us an 11th-minute lead, but Alan Shearer quickly drew the Geordies level.
A minute later England captains past and present collided and Tony Adams was dismissed for bringing down Shearer, however despite playing nearly 70 minutes with 10 men, we grabbed the win when Ian Wright’s opportunistic finish found the net on the hour mark.
March 2, 2002
Newcastle United 0-2 Arsenal
A game that has gone down in the annuls of Premier League history thanks to one moment of brilliance. 11 minutes had elapsed when Dennis Bergkamp received possession inside our own half and found Robert Pires, who returned the ball into the path of the Dutchman.
In one movement, Bergkamp flicked the ball around Nikos Dabizas and spun the other side of the defender, before tucking past Shay Given to net one of our all-time great goals. He then turned provider on 41 minutes when his free-kick was headed in by Sol Campbell to seal a priceless win against one of our title rivals that campaign.
March 21, 2009
Newcastle United 1-3 Arsenal
Things could have been different in this one had Manuel Almunia not saved a tame Obafemi Martins penalty midway through the first half, and even after Nicklas Bendtner headed in the opener on 57 minutes, Martins poked in an equaliser 60 seconds later.
But the goals kept coming in quick succession and Abou Diaby powered through the heart of the home team’s defence to put us back in front, before Samir Nasri drove the ball into the bottom corner three minutes later to ensure there wasn’t a comeback.
October 27, 2010
Newcastle United 0-4 Arsenal
Our biggest win on the Magpies’ home turf in recent years was this League Cup triumph that sent us through to the quarter-finals in style, but it only began thanks to a calamitous own goal when Ryan Taylor’s goalline clearance cannoned in off the back of Tim Krul’s head.
After the break, Theo Walcott raced in behind the hosts’ defence and dinked the ball over the Dutch goalkeeper, before Bendtner whacked a cracker into the top corner to seal our spot in the last eight. Walcott would add one more late on to make the victory even more emphatic.
May 19, 2013
Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal
We headed to Tyneside on the final day of the season knowing a win would see us qualify for the Champions League for the 16th consecutive season, and pip Tottenham to the final spot.
Nerves were jangling when Papiss Cisse missed a golden chance early on and the first half finished goalless, but six minutes after the restart Laurent Koscielny blasted home a rare goal from close range. Walcott hit the post late on, but enough had already been done to ensure we finished in the top four.
Take a look at more memorable games against the Magpies, including a 2-0 success in 2021 and some brilliant goals, in our playlist.
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