Arsenal booked a famous fifth round trip to Old Trafford on Saturday evening when they saw off a dejected Newcastle United at the Emirates. The Gunner’s 3-0 win over the side from Teesside means that they will face their fierce rivals Manchester United sometime in February.

Arsene Wenger took no chances when he made seven changes from the side that was trounced at White Hart Lane just four days before. Germany’s World Cup goalkeeper Jens Lehmann made a return to first-team football with an impressive performance. But it was the Arsenal defense that was going through stints of dryness, when, late in the first half, Gael Clichy cleared off the line from a goal-bound Allan Smith header. Kolo Toure was definitely being missed in the heart of the defense. England striker Michael Owen was dangerous, coming close to putting the Magpies in the lead but failed to connect with Steven Carr’s teaser. Arsenal’s best chance came right at the stroke of half-time when French midfielder Abou Diaby’s exquisite strike was parried away by Shay Given.

The old shooting machine came to life in the second half with a beautiful goal by in-form Emmanuel Adebayor six minutes after half-time. The Togolese was quickest to react to Eduardo’s shot coming off the post when he collected the rebound, swiveled past defender Cacapa and coolly slotted home past a defenseless Given.

The injection of momentum saw magician Cesc Fabregas raising his game in midfield alongside the lanky Diaby to provide for the likes of Eduardo upfront and stir the crowd into excitement. It was all red after that and Adebayor sealed the victory in the 83rd minute with a serpentine run through the Newcastle defenders, leaving behind three or four casualties before, again, with extreme ease, picking his spot in the bottom left hand corner of the net.

Arsenals were through, and Keegan’s reign couldn’t take a worse turn. With only a minute left on the clock, Nicky Butt, former Manchester United midfielder, put the game beyond doubt when he unwittingly headed into his own goal from a well-taken Fabregas free-kick.

The win puts Arsenal in pole-position as the two sides meet again on Tuesday night, this time in the English Premier League.