Dennis menaces Newcastle

If Bergkamp could play 60 games in the form he showed on Saturday, he would already have guaranteed Arsenal the title they are closing in on. Not only did he serve up goals on a plate for Robert Pires - after just 62 seconds - and Sol Campbell, but either side of scoring the second himself in the 10th minute he also produced two pieces of delight which ended with glorious chips hitting the woodwork.

Robson's admiration was complete as he conceded Bergkamp had, like an Arsenal side buoyed by the return of Tony Adams, stood head and shoulders above his team. The Newcastle manager said: 'He's been a fabulous player since I first saw him at Ajax in 1990. He's just so clever on the ball.'

Even Wenger would not consider leaving Bergkamp out in the championship run-in, although the sheer intensity the Dutchman is displaying is perhaps the perfect justification of the manager's decision to hold him back.

Bergkamp seems fired by a determination to prove he should have started more than the 15 Premiership games he has, his sensational performance following on from those wonderful goals at Newcastle and against Bayer Leverkusen.

He said: 'I'm probably in better form than I was four years ago but it helps that we have such a good understanding in the team. Even when I'm playing well, I don't normally watch the goals I've scored. But I had to watch the one at Newcastle as so many people were asking if I really meant it.'

He did, and the touch on Saturday that beat Andy O'Brien before setting up the Pires opener proved that. The only negative point for Arsenal was the sight of Pires being carried off on a stretcher after jarring medial ligaments in his right knee attempting to hurdle Nikos Dabizas.

Wenger initially feared Pires might be out for up to four weeks, but the winger, who will today fly to France for treatment at Clairefontaine, anticipated better news.

Pires said: 'When I came down I felt the outside of my knee and heard it crack. I've had a similar type of injury before and I think I'll be out for the France game with Scotland this week and the games against Sunderland and Charlton. But I should be back after that.'

Arsenal will hope so. Claiming a semi-final berth against Middlesbrough means the scheduled visit to Old Trafford on April 13 will now be moved, and although Wenger was initially against playing that game in the final week of the season, he is now far less bothered, accepting: 'In the end, TV will decide.'

For Newcastle, a season which was full of promise at the start of the month is in danger of fizzling out. Leeds are now within two points of them in fifth place and it was no surprise that skipper Alan Shearer sought to send out a rallying call.

Shearer's early chip a fraction wide and O'Brien's remarkable headed miss from five yards were as close as Newcastle went and the ex-England captain said: 'We're bitterly disappointed but we've still got a hell of a lot to play for. We have eight massive games coming up and it would be criminal for us to throw this season away and not qualify for the Champions League.

'At the start, we'd have been happy to earn a UEFA Cup spot, but not any more. With the season we've had, and the way things have gone, it would be desperate to throw away fourth place now.'