Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he remains determined to keep Theo Walcott

Published: 29 December, 2012
by TOM FOOT at the Emirates

Premier League
ARSENAL 7, NEWCASTLE UNITED 3

THEO Walcott took the matchball and left the field to chants of "sign him up" after Arsenal wrapped up 2012 with a 7-3 battering of Newcastle United at the Emirates.

The Magpies pecked away at the Gunners, but the pace and precision of Walcott was too much for them in the end. Playing centre-forward, he silenced his doubters with three finishes of the highest order that drew comparisons to his predecessor, Thierry Henry, who trained with Arsenal yesterday (Friday) and was at the match tonight.

After the game, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said: "Walcott's [the first goal] was a Thierry old-time goal. He is an intelligent player and he will continue to improve.

"The intensity of my desire [to sign him] is exactly the same as before the game. He belongs here and hopefully we can do it. I think he loves the club. The club loves him. Those are the two hardest things to find."

Wenger revealed that Henry had only just returned from holiday but was "a bit short to play on Tuesday night" against Southampton.

With Spurs coming back from a goal down to win at Sunderland in the day's early kick-off, and Chelsea enjoying a resurgence under Rafa Benitez, Arsenal were under pressure to keep pace in the "league within the league".

The Gunners are now in fifth place, three points behind Spurs with a game in hand.

Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta and Santi Cazorla formed a midfield triangle with Walcott playing in front of Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the wings.

They carved openings in the first five minutes but had been under pressure from Newcastle when Podolski played Walcott into acres of free space on the left wing. He raced on to the pass, took a couple of touches, before clipping the ball across the onrushing Tim Krul and into the bottom corner.

Newcastle, buoyed after a good run of play, equalised after a dubious free-kick was awarded on 43 minutes for a foul on Gabriel Obertan by Bacary Sagna.

Demba Ba's powerful shot hit the back of Wilshere, who had strayed from his position in the wall, looping past Wojciech Szczesny into an unguarded net.

The Newcastle striker pressed his head to the ground to pray and the Arsenal number 10 looked to the heavens with a look of disbelief.

Oxlade-Chamberlain restored the lead shortly after the restart, powering into the bottom corner after Cazorla picked him out on the edge of the box.

But Sylvain Marveaux squared the score again after tapping in from two yards unchallenged on 50 minutes.

Cazorla forced a big save from Krul moments later and Podolski almost got on the end of a one-two as the home side ramped up the pressure.

On 64 minutes, Wilshere chipped a cross that Fabricio Collocini could only divert into the path of Podolski, who bravely bundled a header in for 3-2.

The excellent Ba made it 3-3 after latching on to a defence-splitting cross at the back post on 69 minutes. The Gunners took the lead again when Walcott controlled, spun and smashed in his second into the roof of the net on 73 minutes.

He narrowly missed notching a hat-trick moments later but provided substitute Olivier Giroud with a perfect cross to head home on 85 minutes. The pair repeated the trick minutes later with Giroud firing in Arsenal's sixth with Walcott the provider, and Giroud almost sealed a 10-minute hat-trick but rattled the crossbar with his header.

Walcott got his third with a neat dinked chip over Krul after jigging through four players on a determined run from the corner flag.

Arsenal had been linked with Nani in the morning papers, with the transfer window about to open, but Wenger said: "We don't look at any player from Man United."