The perfect response to Wednesday. Arsenal came out with energy you wouldn't have though them capable of that evening. But we did have Tony Adams on the pitch, and his comeback was every bit as assured as you'd expect. Ashley Cole was another change, and he did fine on his return giving us an extra attacking threat down that flank which we've been lacking.

But the big difference was Dennis Bergkamp who was majestic throughout. Not just his tricks passes and shots either, Dennis was snapping at the heels of the defenders when we lost the ball too.

Arsenal blew Newcastle away with 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. The first one was started by a great 40 yard ball out of defence, Adams finding Luzhny on the right wing. He fed Bergkamp who breezed past his marker with a superb turn and found Pires' run into space on the left hand side of the box. Bobby curled opened his body as usual and curled it past Given inside the far post.

That was less than 2 minutes after the start. 7 minutes later Pires got into that same space and this time squared for Dennis to knock it in from the penalty spot. In between the goals, Bergkamp had hit the bar with a chip after forging a yard of space for himself just inside the box. Later on he was denied by the woodwork again.

The bad news was an injury to Pires, who jumped over a tackle by Dabizas (when he could possibly have played for and got a penalty - accusers of diving please note!). He was stretchered off after about half an hour and the news is not good. He could be out for 4 weeks or more, although it might be a few days before the extent of the damage to his knee is known.

Newcastle had the better of the first half after Pires went off, but the defence stood their ground and the only clear cut chances were wasted. O'Brien had a particularly good chance with a header which he glanced wide.

If the trend had continued and Toon had scored early in the second half it could have gone differently, but when Cambpell stooped to head home a free-kick and make it 3-0, the game was clearly up.

So Arsenal go to Old Trafford to take on Middlesbrough on 14th April (Boro as I write have shown they can score there, havign just taken the lead against Man United). Our away match with United will be rearranged, and it looks likely to be moved to the last week, seeing as they still have midweek Champs League games.