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                     Arsenal                       0.......


                     Newcastle United          0 .............

Bobby Robson's smothering tactics and some gritty attrition by the Toon Army enabled Newcastle to plunder an FA Carling Premiership point from off-key Arsenal in a goalless draw at Highbury. Arsene Wenger decided to do without the Dutch artistry of Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars until the second half. It was not very pretty to watch but for the wily 66-year-old former England boss it was satisfactorily effective, bringing the Magpies their first away Premiership point of the campaign after six League defeats in a row. Arsenal could not shake off the misery of their midweek Champions League exit despite the admirable energy and drive of their French midfielders Patrick Vieira and Gilles Grimandi and the iron grip which Tony Adams exerted on England captain Alan Shearer who has still to score his first goal at Highbury. But with their Croat ace Davor Suker having an off day, crowned by his failure to make contact with an Oleg Luzhny cross when unmarked in front of goal two minutes from time, the Gunners firepower was drastically reduced as they ended up with their second blank in a week. Even worse they had England defender Keown booked and he will now face suspension in two weeks for his fifth yellow card in the domestic season. And Arsenal were still seething over the perceived injustice of that long after the final whistle - anger which their fans supplemented with a general rant about Shearer's part in the proceedings. Just after the hour, the Geordie icon appeared to push Keown in the back as the defender tried to shepherd an overhit through ball back towards keeper David Seaman. Keown then stuck out his arms to fend off the striker but up went the linesman's flag for an unproductive Newcastle free-kick - and a Keown booking from referee Peter Jones. Arsenal's mood was hardly brightened by the fact that Keown had to hobble off injured a few minutes later. That just added to Arsenal's frustration because despite bags of possession they barely created a scoring opportunity worthy of the name - even when Bergkamp replaced the disappointing Thierry Henry at the start of the second half. Arsenal never showed the urgency you would associate with a team who could have climbed to the top of the Premiership had they won and Leeds United lost. And it has to be said that Wenger's squad rotation effort hardly helped - with Kanu also left on the bench. He may well have meant to bring on the big Nigerian late in the game for one of his famous rescue acts but Keown's injury wrecked that plan and young central defender Matthew Upson had to go on instead. By then, though, Arsenal hardly needed many defenders as Newcastle funnelled back into the sweeper system which Robson introduced for the first time since his arrival at St James' Park. It afforded his team very few scoring chances but Kevin Gallacher should have done much better than allowed under-employed David Seaman to plunge at his feet and save when a misguided header by Luzhny early in the second half threatened to give away a goal. Gary Speed also chose the wrong option in a three-on-two Newcastle break near the end when he slipped the ball through to Nolberto Solano on the right when Gallagher was much better placed on his other side. But Newcastle still emerged with much more satisfaction than their hosts from Highbury's first goalless draw of the season. An eminently forgettable first-half saw Arsenal alarmingly short of ideas against a stubborn defence. Vieira, despite being subjected to some tough treatment from the Newcastle defenders just two weeks ahead of the start of his six-match ban, was still the one real source of inspiration for the Gunners, with Bergkamp, Kanu and Overmars on the bench. And he almost broke the dour deadlock two minutes before the break when he got his head to Henry's corner and extracted a deflection which beat goalkeeper John Karelse and forced Franck Dumas to hack off the line. Karelse was in panic mode when Adams followed up to try to force the ball home and was happy to see it slip past a post. But the Dutch keeper, the last Newcastle signing of former boss Ruud Gullit, was rarely troubled in the first 45 minutes of only his third game for the Magpies - despite Arsenal's pressure. Robson had to call him into a goalkeeping crisis, with Steve Harper suspended and Shay Given injured but Arsenal never really tested his only known form - seven goals conceded in his only two previous first-team appearances. Henry hit a half-chance wide early on when Newcastle were still adjusting to their new defensive plan and, soon afterwards powered in a low free-kick that almost sneaked inside the near post. But for most of the time the Frenchman played with a lethargy that made critics wonder again why he cost a record £10m. Shearer and Adams had their familiar physical battle but it was inconclusive, like so much of the fragmented action, which took most of its character from Newcastle's stoic resilience.