Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle

Jan 27 2008 Neil Thomas Reports

ARSENAL enjoyed a Togo party as hitman Emmanuel Adebayor killed Kevin Keegan's FA Cup dream.

The African striker apologised for his part in a midweek bust-up with team-mate Nicklas Bendtner then made Newcastle feel sorry with a deadly double.

And as the seconds ticked away Keegan's troops were forced to throw in the towel as Nicky Butt's own goal completed the scoring.

The result was harsh on a Newcastle side that battled all the way and created the best first-half chances.

But once Adebayor broke the deadlock six minutes after the break there was only going to be one winner.

Arsenal were hammered 5-1 by Spurs in the Carling Cup semi-final on Tuesday and this was the best possible reply.

Boss Arsene Wenger hopes the Adebayor/ Bendtner incident has been put to bed.

He said: "Everyone has played football and in what team does that kind of incident not happen? It is something to talk about but there are disagreements in every team.

"We have an incident where someone might have been touched a tiny bit and everyone is shocked.

"There were 200 photographers and seven cameras around the pitch and everyone tried to find one where Adebayor hit Bendtner but they didn't find anything.

"We deal with it internally.We are quite severe when we feel the players have to be punished but Bendtner did not say he was hit.

"Both of them apologised because it didn't project the right sort of image and it shocked the media's virgin view of the game."

Wenger, who left Bendtner on the bench and started Theo Walcott up front, reckoned his side responded well to their Spurs disaster.

He said: "It was a game where the first goal had a big impact on the result. We scored when we were in control and that was hard for Newcastle to absorb mentally."

Newcastle return to the Emirates for a league clash on Tuesday and Keegan said: "We have some positives to take into the game.

"It was a good first-half performance and we had the courage to play them.

"Our biggest problem is confidence and when the first goal went in you could not really see us coming back."

Arsenal were keen to make a quick start after their White Hart Lane shambles but Newcastle showed they are rejuvenated.

They looked dangerous on the break and almost snatched the lead when Alan Smith's shot was headed off the line by Gael Clichy.

At the other end Clichy saw a curling shot parried by Shay Given after 16 minutes and the keeper then blocked Eduardo's angled drive.

Adebayor flashed a header wide and Abou Diaby fired in a dipping effort Given tipped over.

Newcastle took the game to Arsenal after the break but fell behind in 51 minutes.

Eduardo made space on the edge of the box and cracked a shot off the post. The defence failed to clear and Adebayor lashed his effort home.

Arsenal made sure of the win seven minutes from time.

Adebayor darted into the box, held off two defenders and drew Given before firing in a low shot.

Butt then fumbled into his own net to seal his side's exit.