arsenal for the title? that extraordinary possibility cannot now be batted away as pure whimsy after olivier giroud’s prolific goal run continued, inspiring his side to overcome newcastle this win doesn’t merely cement arsenal’s top four place but gives chelsea and manchester city above them reason to look over shoulders with increasing concern giroud’s goals came within a four minute first half spell, the first off his thigh, the second from a header they take the 28 year old’s recent tally to nine goals in nine games in all competitions he also has eight in six games against newcastle since his £10million move in summer 2012 from montpellier olivier giroud gives arsenal the lead in the 28th minute as he diverts danny welbeck's header into newcastle's goal with his left thigh  newcastle goalkeeper tim krul can't get to the ball as giroud's effort heads towards the bottom corner of his goal  the french striker celebrates his first goal of the game with team mates gabriel paulista and welbeck (right) at st james' park  newcastle: krul 6, ryan taylor 65, janmaat 65, williamson 55, colback 55, anita 5 (gutierrez 72), sissoko 7, gouffran 6, cabella 7, ameobi 55 (armstrong 89), perez 7  subs not used: elliot, obertan, riviere, satka, kemen  goal: sissoko 48  booked: none  arsenal: ospina 7, chambers 6, gabriel 6, koscielny 65, monreal 55, ramsey 7, coquelin 7, sanchez 6 (flamini 71), welbeck 65 (bellerin 89), cazorla 65 (rosicky 71), giroud 8  subs not used: szczesny, gibbs, walcott, mertesacker  goals: giroud 24, 28  booked: none  motm: giroud  referee: mike jones 7  attendance: 50,544  *player ratings by chris wheeler at st james' park  giroud opened the scoring for arsenal   click here for more in our match zone  newcastle were a distant second best in the first half but were impressive after the break, testing arsenal’s mettle as moussa sissoko gave them a consolation the upshot is arsenal are just a point behind city and four behind leaders chelsea, albeit with chelsea having two games in hand chelsea remain odds on favourites to win the title race rightly but whisper it: this is a race now of sorts, a contest at least, with the season’s biggest prize remaining a feasible for more than one team, for now ‘chelsea at the moment i feel have enough [of a ] cushion to be serene,’ said arsenal’s manager arsene wenger, asked about his side’s title chances ‘chelsea have too much security’ but asked if his players believe they can now cause what would be an amazing upset, he added: ‘we are in a fight right until the end we will keep on fighting’ wenger’s counterpart john carver said: ‘until they scored the two goals i thought we were in it but we conceded from two set plays and that’s disappointing’ leaving aside the two legged exit to monaco in the champions league, things have been going arsenal’s way of late they have won 14 of their last 16 games, and all six of their last six games that is title challenging form and their eight premier league fixtures to come offer the tantalising opportunity to advance their own cause while damaging those immediately around them giroud holds off his marker to head arsenal into a two goal lead just four minutes after opening the scoring  francis coquelin (left) and calum chambers (right) congratulate giroud following his second goal of the afternoon  giroud, who now has nine goals in his last nine games in all competitions, salutes arsenal's travelling supporters after the final whistle  newcastle midfielder moussa sissoko finishes a cross from remy cabella to get john carver's side back into the match  arsenal goalkeeper david ospina can only watch helplessly as sissoko's effort nestles into the bottom corner of his goal  sissoko points to the sky as he celebrates scoring newcastle's first premier league goal since february 28  their next game is at home to liverpool in a fortnight before a trip to burnley after that comes what could prove to be a pivotal showdown against chelsea — at the emirates they then play at hull, at home to swansea and at manchester united before finishing with back to back home games against sunderland and west brom newcastle, relatively safe but unremarkable in mid table continue to frustrate their fans — although they came flying from the blocks in the second half carver brushed aside any suggestion his team are free wheeling ‘in the second half we took the game to them and we can take a lot from that,’ he said ‘we’re not on the beach in flip flops, that’s for sure’ arsenal found fertile territory down the right, winning a series of set pieces santi cazorla’s free kick found alexis sanchez on the left and his shot was blocked by ryan taylor another cazorla cross was aimed at giroud but tim krul gathered it then came the free kick that broke the deadlock, cazorla delivering to danny welbeck, whose flicked head on fell into the path of giroud, off whose leg the ball flew in wales international aaron ramsey brings the ball down under pressure from newcastle defender mike williamson  newcastle forward yoan gouffran (second from left) attacks a corner as welbeck and giroud help out the arsenal defence  two goal hero giroud is left grimacing in a heap on the floor after a challenge by a newcastle player  newcastle forward perez smashes the post in the second half as chambers and coquelin attempt to block his shot  two minutes later it was 2 0, with cazorla again the provider, this time from a corner giroud was being ‘marked’ by mike williamson, or rather williamson was standing next to him as the ball came in giroud did not even need to launch himself from the ground to meet the ball with his head, simply leaning forward to steer home newcastle responded with a hat trick of chances in 40 seconds sammy ameobi’s left footed shot was blocked, as was sissoko’s shot, and then remy cabella’s header after the break their urgency increased still further they reduced the deficit after taylor and cabella exchanged passes, and cabella crossed to sissoko, who converted newcastle’s tails were up and ayoze perez twice unleashed powerful shots that went narrowly over yoan gouffran then shot straight at david ospina before williamson tested the arsenal keeper properly with a header ospina made a brilliant reaction save with his legs from perez four minutes from time to keep arsenal’s lead intact — and a dream run at the title still viable arsenal boss arsene wenger gives out instructions to his players during his side's sixth successive premier league victory  arsenal forward alexis sanchez (left) drives into newcastle's box as midfielder vurnon anita tries to stay with him  newcastle striker ayoze perez and arsenal defender gabriel battle for the ball in the air during the first half  newcastle boss john carver tries to tackle arsenal forward welbeck during a feisty second half at st james' park  welbeck shields the ball from gouffran as arsenal keep up the pressure on manchester city and chelsea at the top of the table  colombia international ospina pulls off a save at point blank range to deny newcastle a goal at st james' park  newcastle midfielder cabella desperately attempts to block a cross from arsenal midfielder aaron ramsey 
speciate oxypolis olivier giroud scoliid reconditioned apprehensiveness queans tim krul dimetallic medievalists arsenal syntheticism danny welbeck's 28th minute cockawee
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