Vieira displays stomach for battle

Robert Pires, for instance, is not a player with a reputation for looking a physical challenge but last night they could not be avoided and he did not shirk one. He even went head-to-head with Jenas on one occasion rather than, as is the norm, look dolefully with arms outstretched, at the referee.

Thierry Henry did not have the most effective of games with the ball but never shirked, harrying and occupying two Newcastle defenders. Sol Campbell recovered from an edgy start against the game and durable Shola Ameobi to produce a more commanding second-half display as crosses peppered the Arsenal goalmouth. There were occasional scary moments - not least when Manuel Almunia was denied the credit for an excellent save from Ameobi when referee Steve Bennett gave a goal kick. There also seemed to be a valid claim for a penalty when Cole handled but the full-back seemed unperturbed by the furore. The ball clearly hit his hand as he pursued Craig Bellamy into the penalty area. "If anything was going to be given it was a freekick because I was pushed," said Cole.

Bellamy wanted to continue the verbals after the incident and only stopped when the giant figure of Vieira arrived on the scene with forefinger over lips to suggest to the Wales international he cease hostilities. He did. Vieira was in that kind of mood. And as well as curbing Bellamy's tongue, he succeeded in silencing 50,000 Geordies with his venomous shot on the stroke of halftime. That proved to be the matchwinner, and Wenger revealed how his captain did well to play after two days with a debilitating stomach upset that forced him to miss training. The Arsenal manager said: "He was great. For a guy who was sick he recovered very quickly.

"This was a satisfying win because this red-and-white shirt motivates absolutely everybody and Newcastle were really up for it.

"The pitch was terrible to play the game we are used to playing so it was difficult to have continuity. But the desire is there - you could see that. The character is there because in the second half when we had heavy legs every player made the one or two yards not to give up. This was a big victory."

A third clean sheet in a row was also pleasing to Wenger as the season now enters its crucial second half. "It is good and encourages the players to keep defending well," said the Frenchman. "The team showed character, desire and hunger. We are in the title race again. I said that two weeks ago, and we showed that in the games when the football is not as fluid as we like to play."

Wenger refuses to contemplate how many defeats can be accommodated in the title run-in and compared the pursuit of the championship to a cycle race. "It is like you are on a bike, you put your head down and you don't look at who is next to you," he said.

"In the end, for maybe the five or six games, you look at who is around you." But what Wenger does feel will count to Arsenal's advantage is the number of high-profile away games his team have already played. "We have met Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and now Newcastle," he said. "We have shown we can handle pressure because after the results on Tuesday, we had to win. That is not easy to handle mentally. But my team can deal with that."

There were two penalty calls in the game. The one against Cole and one against Newcastle's Olivier Bernard. Newcastle manager Graeme Souness said: "I feel hard done by because we deserved something from the game, not just because of the penalty. We deserved something because of the amount of effort we put in."

Wenger, of course, was more sanguine, adding: "They tell me the ball hit Ashley when he jumped and there was one against Bernard in their box."

And such was his buoyant mood that he allowed some humour to creep into proceedings as he was quizzed about both incidents. "Did I see either of them? No - my sight gets worse as well," he said.

But Wenger had seen what he had needed to see - Vieira on song, Flamini emerging, Campbell dominating, Freddie Ljungberg buzzing incessantly and Kolo Toure as strong as ever.

Jose Mourinho just might not sleep that easily in the new year.