Stunner at St James'! Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal.

Simply stunning! Two words to describe events at St James' Park this afternoon as Newcastle made history against Arsenal.

The Premier League served up another one of it's classics, and believe me this one will be up there with the very best of them.

Many questions had been raised before kick-off regarding how the team would cope without Carroll, and without the immediate aftermath of his departure to Liverpool. Of course we lost against Fulham in midweek, and anxious punters were waiting to see whether that was to be a blip or sign of things to come.

With Shola Ameobi out injured, the responsibility to score goals fell to a front pair of Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands. Hardly inspiring was the thought of many. Cheik Tiote was welcomed back with open arms after serving his three game suspension, and was subsequently returned to his central midfield position.

Those looking for a reaction got one within the first minute of the match, but it wasn't the reaction that many had hoped for. A hopeful punt front back to front was misjudged by the Newcastle defence and allowed Theo Walcott to finish smartly past Steve Harper.

It got worse a minute or so later when Johan Djorou scored his first goal for Arsenal when he headed goalwards from an Andrei Arshavin free kick. The header was of such quality that it left Steve Harper with no chance. 2-0 down within the first three minutes.

Newcastle seemed deflated having found themselves two goals down so quickly, but things were to get worse, much worse. Walcott created a third for Arsenal which Robin van Persie finished, and the Dutchman made it 4-0 on 26 minutes when he headed in a Bacary Sagna cross. Newcastle were chasing shadows throughout the first half and in reality it was a question of how many more we were going to concede.

Damage limitations would surely be on the agenda and the old cliche of 'winning the second half' would probably have been said during the half-time interval, along with other choice words I would assume.

Newcastle improved in the second half and started to show some fight and desire. It was all I was personally looking for as I never expected us to get much from a game that we were losing 4-0. The balance of power shifted slightly on 50 minutes though when Abou Diaby - the tosspot who bullied Hatem Ben Arfa at Clairefontaine - saw red for lashing out at Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan. Perhaps we could get a consolation goal after all?

Danny Simpson went close soon after but was denied by Szczesny in the Arsenal goal. Newcastle continued to impress though and took the game to Arsenal.

The home side had to wait until 68 minutes to make a breakthrough after Laurent Koscielny brought down Leon Best in the penalty area. Joey Barton duly dispatched the spot-kick to give the home side the consolation that their play deserved.

Leon Best reduced the deficit on 75 minutes before Arsenal conceded another penalty in the 83rd minute which Joey Barton again dispatched to set up a grandstand finish. It could be construed as being a soft penalty, but it balances out Leon Best's disallowed goal that should have stood. Incidentally there is no mention of that on the Arsenal website.

Pegging it back to 4-3 was something that was beyond my wildest dreams at half-time, but here we were with seven minutes plus stoppage time to play and with our team firmly in the ascendancy. Could Newcastle really make history and become the first team ever to overturn a four-goal deficit in a Premier League match?

Cheik Tiote provided the answer to that on 87 minutes when he volleyed into the bottom corner of the Gallowgate net from fully 30-yards to spark scenes of mass celebration in the home end and scenes of mass faces looking like smacked bottom's in the away end.

Unbelievably the home side could have won the game in stoppage time through Kevin Nolan who drove his shot wide, and then from Nile Ranger who was denied by some brave goalkeeping from the Arsenal stopper.

Andy who?

I'd have been chuffed with a point against Arsenal to start with, but I am practically doing naked cartwheels with this result. To come from four goals down showed immense character and determination. Put simply, if we keep on doing that then we will be fine.

History was made today, and it was made without Andy Carroll!

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands.

Subs: Tim Krul, James Perch, Sol Campbell, Shane Ferguson, Danny Guthrie, Michael Richardson, Nile Ranger.

Arsenal: Wojniech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Johan Djourou, Laurent Koscielny, Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas, Andrey Arshavin, Robin van Persie.

Subs: Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Eboue, Kieron Gibbs, Sebastien Squillaci, Tomas Rosicky, Nikolas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh.

Attendance: 51,561.

Referee: Phil Dowd.