The win came courtesy of two goals from Robin van Persie, who converted an 18th-minute penalty after Charles N'Zogbia was deemed to have handled a cross from Adebayor.

Newcastle could have levelled through Michael Owen, before Van Persie made it 2-0 with four minutes to go to the break and Brazil youngster Denilson wrapped things up in the second half.

Adebayor admitted the performance showed a big improvement from the 1-0 loss at Craven Cottage, and told Setanta Sports: "We put in a little bit of heart and as soon as we believed in our quality we created chances today.

"Every single player put in a little bit more, it was very important to show character and personality and we have done that quite well this season.

"We just enjoyed ourselves, we enjoyed playing for Arsenal. Playing well is good, but winning is better."

Asked about Van Persie's performance, the Togo international added: "He played very good football, we all know how good he is and he played very well today."

mfl