Newcastle Gained Far More Than Just A Point Against Arsenal

I have never covered a game as wonderfully dramatic as Newcastle United's 4-4 draw with Arsenal and, for the first time in ten years, I leapt up and celebrated a goal in the press box when Cheik Tiote's volley hit the back of the net.

In 90 minutes, Newcastle United had illustrated everything that makes it special as a football club, plunging to the depths of despair before rising again, hurtling towards a state of unrestrained euphoria.

It will fall again, it will trip itself up, it will shoot itself in the foot. This is what Newcastle United does, it is what Mike Ashley does best, but even he will never be able to erase the memories of that magical second-half comeback.

It was not so much the game itself, or the result that made is special, it was the manner in which it was achieved.

Newcastle's supporters and players have had the stuffing knocked out of them struggling to come to terms with the decision to sell Andy Carroll, but at their lowest point they found the collective strength to pull off something remarkable, roared on by supporters who could have spent the entire 90 minutes chanting for the head of an unpopular owner.

That they didn't owes much to the realisation there were two sides to the sale of Carroll tale and neither made for enjoyable reading, soured as they were by greed and lies, but it also owes much to the special relationship between those who grew up supporting the black and white stripes and those who wear them.

United's players and supporters drew strength from each other at the weekend and Arsenal, a magnificent team littered with magnificent players, wilted in front of a raging fire.

It was breathtaking stuff, an experience that made all the politics, finance and skullduggery disappear and the timing could not have been better.

Had United slipped to a heavy home defeat, you fear for the direction their season would be heading under Alan Pardew, but instead they have come away with a point which felt like a victory.

The sale of Carroll will not be forgotten and it will not be forgiven after just one thrilling game of football, but at least the events of the weekend have shifted the agenda and given the club, its staff, supporters and players a chance to move on.

Only time will tell whether the sale of Carroll was a clever piece of business or a disastrous one, but at least the players who remain have shown they were and always will be far more than just a one man team.

That had to happen and it had to happen quickly. It was a draw worth far more than just a Premier League point.