Newcastle took advantage of some woeful goalkeeping by Arsenal's Lukasz Fabianski to snatch the lead then doggedly defend for a deserved 1-0 win at the Emirates. Newcastle had a dismal record against the hosts but put that to rights with their first victory over the Gunners in almost five years.
The visitor's started the game brightly and took the lead just on half time when Joey Barton's free kick was met by Andy Carroll who arrived first for the ball in front of Fabianski to head into an empty net.
Toon had rode their luck earlier when Cesc Fabregas had hit the bar with a deflected free-kick and Samir Nasri's shot was saved by Tim Krul.
Theo Walcott then hit the woodwork as Newcastle defended with some skill against the home side's pressure.
Arsenal have a habit of scoring late at home but all that happened of note this time at the Emirates was the dismissal of Laurent Koscielny for pulling back Nile Ranger.
And after this result surely the Newcastle board must look to extending boss Chris Hughton's contract.
Referee: Mike Dean
Venue: The Emirates Stadium Attendance: 60,059
Arsenal scorers: Newcastle scorers: Carroll 45
ARSENAL 21 Fabianski 03 Sagna (yellow card) 06 Koscielny (red card) 18 Squillaci 22 Clichy (yellow card) 04 Fabregas (yellow card) 08 Nasri (Arshavin 56) 14 Walcott 17 A Song 19 Wilshere (Bendtner 73) 29 Chamakh (Van Persie 57)
Substitutes 53 Szczesny, 20 Djourou, 27 Eboue, 07 Rosicky, 23 Arshavin, 10 Van Persie, 52 Bendtner
NEWCASTLE 26 Krul 02 Coloccini 03 Jose Enrique 06 Williamson 12 Simpson 04 Nolan 07 Barton 18 Gutierrez 24 Tiote (yellow card) 09 Carroll 23 Ameobi (Ranger 82)
Substitutes 33 Soderberg, 05 Campbell, 27 Taylor, 10 Routledge, 17 Smith, 11 Lovenkrands, 30 Ranger
