I said in my previous piece that Joey Barton needed to let his actions on the field do the talking, and against Arsenal yesterday that is exactly what he did, but once again the controversial midfielder found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
However, in doing so I believe Barton demonstrated part of his value to the Newcastle side, in a few mad minutes he was involved in the game's two major talking points. First he was quite blatantly stamped on by Alex Song, apparently unseen by both the Referee and his assistants the offence went unpunished, this naturally angered Barton who walked off the pitch to confront the fourth official and ask why he had not drawn the referee's attention to Song's indiscretion.
Still that wasn't the end of it, as Arsenal attacked and Gervinho probed Newcastle's down the left-hand side and went down in the box theatrically under a challenge from Cheick Tiote, no penalty was given but Barton, after being stamped on and seen Gervinho dive earlier in the contest had seen enough as he aggressively pulled the Ivorian to his feet.
The inevitable happened, a melee ensued and Gervinho raised his hands in the direction of Barton's face, Barton claiming a punch fell to the floor and the rest as they say is history. However much hypocrisy Barton showed in going down easy from the forward's 'punch', raised hands has never been acceptable in modern day football and Gervinho received a red card on his debut while Barton was cautioned for his part in the episode.
Barton had an average game on the whole, and he will likely be vilified by the media for his role in the incident, but in Newcastle circles, he should be praised for ensuring that the home side gained a well-earned point, for this, aside from possessing a very good delivery and range of passing, is what Barton does well. He gets under the skin of opposition opponents, he will fight and stand up for his team's cause and generally annoy teams, and in getting Gervinho sent from the field, Barton helped stem any real threat Arsenal possessed which ensured that the game ended in a stalemate.
Away from the life and times of Joey Barton the game was somewhat of a damp squib, Arsenal had much of the possession, and the game's best chances, but without the craft and guile of the soon to be departed Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri as well as the injured Jack Wilshere, the visitors failed to break Newcastle down.
This has often been a failing of Arsenal sides in recent history, but it was also much to Newcastle's credit, captain Fabricio Coloccini was outstanding throughout, while his centre-back partner Steven Taylor enjoyed a solid outing. Cheick Tiote couldn't repeat the heroics of last season's 4-4 draw but did a serviceable job covering for both Newcastle's full-backs whenever Arsenal launched a counter attack.
Going forward, Newcastle created the odd opening but never really threatened, with the home side's best opportunity coming after substitute Gabriel Obertan and Yohan Cabaye combined cleverly in the Arsenal penalty area but in the end it came to nothing. Had Cabaye managed to get a better connection on his shot it would have undoubtedly been the winning goal.
The pacy Obertan was a bright spot for Newcastle in attack but in the end this was a largely forgettable encounter with the spice predictably coming from Barton, both teams will have been happy to take a point from the game, but both still need to address their clear lack of firepower in attack.
Man of the Match - Fabricio Coloccini: Newcastle's captain was a colossus at the back yesterday, regularly breaking up Arsenal attacks with consummate ease and composure.
Favourite moment - Obviously the whole Barton episode was the game's major talking point, but for me my favourite moment was Gabriel Obertan racing half the length of the pitch to beat Bacary Sagna to a ball he had no right to win. It was insignificant in the grand context of the game but highlighted the winger's raw pace and the Frenchman rightly won the appreciation of the St. James Park crowd for an excellent show of commitment.
Finally, something to look forward to, at 1800 BST this evening Joey Barton will be talking to Robbie Savage on BBC 5 Live's 606 program, if ever there was a radio broadcast to tune into, it is this one.
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