Shocker at St. James

Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal

Walcott- 1'
Djourou- 3'
Van Persie- 10'
Van Persie- 26'
Diaby- RED CARD 53'
Barton- 68' (PK)
Best- 75'
Barton- 83' (PK)
Tiote- 87'

What a weekend it was in the Barclay's English Premier League.

An astonishing 41 goals were scored on Saturday, which was good for a single-day record. Meanwhile, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea all slumped to disappointing results, adding yet another twist to the title race.

One would imagine that United's first loss of the season would be the top news. But Arsenal's incredible loss of composure at St. James' Park was the story. The Gunners scored a trio of goals in the first ten minutes en route to a seemingly insurmountable 4-0 halftime lead.

But a loss of composure, coupled with several terrible refereeing mistakes saw Newcastle get back into the game. In the end, the Gunners were left stunned, as they had somehow managed to only take a point after putting on a world class display in the first half.

Theo Walcott's pace helped him get behind the defense just moments into the match from an Andrei Arshavin through pass, and he finished well.

It was a rare set piece goal goal for Arsenal just minutes later. Johan Djourou's well-placed header looped into the upper-corner from Arshavin's cross.

The in-form Robin Van Persie appeared to have put the icing on the cake with the next two goals of the match. Walcott made a nice run up the right side in the 10th, crossing low across the box onto the right foot of Van Persie, who made no mistake from close range.

The fourth goal also came from the right side. A nice cross from Bacary Sagna met the head of a completely unmarked Van Persie for an easy goal.

The Gunners looked sluggish and disinterested to begin the second half. But no one could have predicted what was to come.

Newcastle didn't look especially dangerous until referee Phil Dowd justifiably sent off Abou Diaby in the 53rd, who overreacted to a dangerous challenge from Joey Barton by grabbing him by the back of his neck, and then made matters worse by shoving Kevin Nolan.

Denilson and Alex Song were both out with injuries, meaning there was no other true defensive midfield to play in Diaby's place. That was when the Gunners started to struggle.

With Arsenal suddenly reeling, Newcastle began to show some fight.

Phil Dowd pointed to the spot for their first goal when Laurent Koscielny made contact with Leon Best. Barton finished to make it 4-1.

There was more controversy after Wojciech Szczesny took the ball out of his net and initially refused to give the ball back to Barton. Kevin Nolan responded by throwing the 'keeper to the ground, but his deed went unpunished.

Newcastle began to create opportunities. Szczesny was tested on several occasions before Leon Best made it 4-2. He won the ball from Clichy off a cross and finished from close range.

Dowd was once again at the center of attention in the 83rd. He gave an unbelievably dubious penalty, whistling Koscielny for a foul once again after he and Best had made minimal contact at best as they went up for an aerial ball. Barton converted again.

The fourth goal came off of a piece of brilliance from Cheick Tiote. In the 87th, The Gunners appeared to have dealt with a Newcastle free kick, but the ball fell to the foot of an onrushing Tiote, who finished delightfully with a full volley from over 20-yards.

Both teams could have won it, too. Nolan came close on a low strike, and Van Persie had a goal controversially called back for offsides just moments from the final whistle.

Diabolical Dowd

Look, I know that Arsenal's second half performance left a lot to be desired. But without the performance of Phil Dowd, there is surely no way that Newcastle even puts much of a scare into the Gunners.

While they were certainly guilty of coming out flat in the second half, and panicking at 4-3, Arsenal clearly deserved all three points on the day. After all, it was Dowd who was easily the most influential figure in the fight back rather than Newcastle themselves.

Before you accost me for being an "Arsenal Homer," let's take a closer look at what went down last Saturday, and how it massively effected the flow of the match.

Interestingly, the first blow of the second 45 minutes was not off of a poor call. Arsenal fans are still holding their collective breaths after seeing center back Johan Djourou limp off with a knee injury. He was replaced by the struggling Sebastian Squillaci, who once again looked off the pace on multiple occasions.

Then came this sending off of Abou Diaby. The red card was surely justified. You simply can't do that type of thing. But let's keep in mind that his reaction stemmed from this reckless challenge from Joey Barton. Diaby, who broke his leg from a similar challenge several years ago, was understandably upset. Still you've got to keep your calm there, as it leaves the referee with no choice.

But despite the sending off, Arsenal's lead would have been safe. Dowd gave the home team a glimmer of hope in the 68th, calling an EXTREMELY soft penalty on Koscielny. Take a look, Koscielny is indeed clumsy with the challenge, but there is very little actual contact, clearly not enough to send Best to the ground.

If that was the whole story, I wouldn't be complaining. But it gets much, much worse, as the buildup of poor decisions becomes too much to ignore.

Let's start with the immediate aftermath from the first penalty kick goal (there's also a replay of the soft penalty decision). The problem starts when Szczesny refuses to give the ball back to Nolan, who throws him to the ground. How is that not a red card on any football pitch? Little less in a match where you've already sent off an Arsenal player for a virtually identical offense? It's simply inexplicable refereeing from Dowd and his assistant, who both witnessed the entire thing. To make things even more laughable, it was Szczesny who received a yellow for time wasting.

At 4-2, Arsenal dropped back to defend their lead. The Magpies were pouring on the pressure, but it was still hard to imagine they'd make it all the way back.

But then Dowd went to work again. His decision to award a penalty in the 83rd was simply absurd. It's a nothing challenge at best and I have no idea what he was looking at. This is a routine cross into the box and even the Newcastle players look somewhat shocked that the referee has given it. He's simply gotten gotten up in the moment, and made an inexplicably poor decision.

The equalizer was brilliant. But once again, Dowd's role was essential after a bizarre foul call on Tomas Rosicky lead to the free kick.

I'm not here to whine. And I'm the first to admit that my love for Arsenal may swing my opinions at times. But I try my best to be objective. And I simply don't see any way that the Gunners even gets a real test in the second half if not for the clueless decisions from Dowd.

I can't stand fans who constantly complain about refs. But there are rare times where you can legitimately say that referees have cost you points. This is one of those times.

A part of me thinks that Dowd had to be giving Arsenal a piece of his mind after Cesc Fabregas was accused of verbally assaulting officials at halftime during Wednesday's match against Everton. At least that's what it looked like. The calls weren't only bad, but they were consistently going against Arsenal.

It's a frustrating loss for the Gunners. And they have to be wondering what could have been after Manchester United lost. But despite the shocker over the weekend, they're still right in the race after picking up a point on the leaders.

While the result didn't kill Arsenal's long-term chances, the injury to Djourou has to have Wenger worried. The 24-year old has been a great surprise this season after returning from a knee injury. He and Koscielny have formed a decent partnership with Thomas Vermaelen still out. In fact, the Arsenal defense hadn't given up a goal in 2011 before Saturday's debacle.

The Swiss international limped off with an apparent knee injury moments into the second half. That's not good news, as he missed all of last season with ligament damage to his knee.

Wenger's team is deeper this season than they have been in the past, and it has helped them cope with several losses over the year. But the one position where they have little cover is at center-half. The team was linked with a plethora of defenders during the January transfer window, but Wenger decided to go ahead with Djourou/Koscielny/Squillaci while Thomas Vermaelen continued to rehab an Achilles injury.

Squillaci is now thrust into competition after looking dreadful this season. He has simply been off the pace, and this lack of speed has seen attackers get behind him on multiple occasions.

The loss of Djourou compounds Arsenal's problems up the middle of the pitch. Defensive midfielders Alex Song and Denilson are both hurt right now and there hasn't been news on how long they will be out. Now Diaby is suspended for three matches, leaving Wenger with very few options. If all three miss this weekend's match, I'm not sure who the man might be in that spot.

All of that has to be tough to swallow for a team that was on fire before the trip to Newcastle. But with plenty more points up for grabs this season, they are still very much in the race for the trophy.