But both myself and my assistant referee did not see it because

“But both myself and my assistant referee did not see it because if was off the ball so, no, it will not be in my match report.”I saw it on television this morning and it’s clear for everyone to see something has happened.”What happens now is down to the FA, but from a personal point of view it was just a little bit annoying that I missed the incident.”The FA has used television evidence against players before, such as when John Hartson kicked Eyal Berkovic earlier this season, and Le Saux could face disciplinary action even though Durkin did not see the incident.The BBC will provide the FA with a tape of the incident if asked and an FA spokesman, Steve Double, said: “It is an option while there is also the fourth official’s match report to consider.”The incident was the culmination of a running battle between Le Saux and the Liverpool striker, for which both players were booked.The feuding pair were highlighted by Trevor Brooking on the BBC’s Match of the Day and he felt Le Saux and Fowler had been lucky to escape red cards for their antics.”I think both players were fortunate that they got away with just yellow cards each,” he said.”There had been a lot of verbal goadings going on from Robbie to Graeme, because initially Robbie felt Graeme had made a little bit of a meal of a tackle down the line when he had stayed down. The official from Portland, Dorset, has since seen the incident on television in which Le Saux appeared to elbow Fowler on the back of the head and claims he would have shown the Chelsea and England defender the red card.
“I can assure everyone if I had seen it Le Saux would have been sent off,” he said. Substitutes not used: Kanu, Diawara, Manninger (gk).Referee: M Reed (Birmingham).Bookings: Newcastle: Hamann, Dabizas. Arsenal: Overmars, Bergkamp.Man of the match: Bergkamp.Attendance: 36,708.. GRAEME LE SAUX could face trial by television after the referee Paul Durkin admitted he would have sent him off had he seen an apparent elbow assault on Robbie Fowler. Durkin missed the off-the-ball incident during Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and will not be including it in his report to the Football Association. Substitutes not used: Barton, Griffin, Harper (gk).Arsenal (4-4-2): Seaman; Vivas, Adams, Keown, Winterburn; Parlour, Vieira, Garde (Hughes, 4), Overmars (Upson, 85); Anelka, Bergkamp.

He would have put them two goals ahead before the break, too, had the thundering volley he dispatched towards the Gallowgate End goal not struck Gary Speed and deflected wide.Goals: Anelka (36) 1-0; Hamann (78) 1-1. Newcastle United (4-4-2): Given; Charvet, Dabizas, Howey, Domi; Solano (Ketsbaia, 60), Hamann, Speed, Brady (Lee, 60); Shearer, Saha. It left Anelka with only Given to beat and the teenager confidently dragged the ball round him with his right foot before firing his 14th goal of the season with his left foot.Dropping deep to continue the theme (if not the sublime class) of his tour de force against Leicester, the orchestrating Bergkamp put Arsenal in control. That much was made painfully clear to them when Howey and Dabizas conspired to let in Anelka eight minutes later.The former conceded possession to Bergkamp in midfield and the latter produced an air shot in attempting to block the through ball that followed. Not that the finishing touch of Shearer was any more assured when Newcastle broke on the counter-attack in the 28th minute.To be fair to the England captain, he did have to stretch to connect with Solano’s invitation ball across the Arsenal goalmouth, but Newcastle could ill afford to see his shot thud off David Seaman’s right-hand post. They might have profited from it in the 17th minute had Dennis Bergkamp fed the ball to a more striking finisher than Tony Adams when Howey and Didier Domi made a dithering mess of what ought to have been simple clearance duties.With only Shay Given to beat, the Arsenal captain stubbed his toe and the ball bobbled wide. Arsenal were already missing a little something in midfield, with Emmanuel Petit on the injured list, and from the fourth minute they were without his replacement, Remi Guard, courtesy of a mis-timed challenge by Nolberto Solano.It was the lack of timing in the Newcastle defence, though, that tipped the balance of play in Arsenal’s favour.

With less than two minutes on the clock, Hamann released Laurent Charvet on the right and the full- back’s ball to the near post was whipped first-time into the side-netting by his on-loan compatriot.It did not take long for the Gallic contingent on the field to be reduced from six to five. While Arsene and Arsenal pursue the defence of their Double, Newcastle’s season hinges on their fate against Everton in the sixth round of the FA Cup at St James’ next Sunday and their home guard can ill afford to be so doddering – even against such a soft touch of an attacking force as the Toffeemen happen to be.Gullit resisted the temptation to blood his latest acquisition yesterday, swayed by the match fitness Silvio Maric lost in the month he spent waiting for his work permit to be rubber stamped.The Toon Army will have to wait to discover whether the Croatian midfielder is a Maric truly made in heaven – or more like Hebburn – but their spirits were raised by the sight of Alan Shearer in the Newcastle starting line- up.Recovered from a midweek dose of flu, the England captain resumed his forward-line leading duties alongside Louis Saha, who could hardly have come closer to giving the Magpies a flying start. We made the mistake of trying to get through with a 1-0.”Gullit was simply relieved that his Magpies avoided a wing-clipping. It left the title holders seven points off pole position in the Premiership, albeit still with a game in hand of Manchester United and without the distraction of Europe.”The problem now is we can afford less mistakes than the others,” Arsene Wenger lamented “In the second half we just didn’t come out enough. Placing the emphasis on the protection of their lead, they paid for their caution with two dropped points when Dietmar Hamann struck with an inspirational flash after 78 minutes.Sidestepping Tony Adams, Nigel Winterburn and Martin Keown on the right angle of the Arsenal box, Germany’s midfielder beat David Seaman with a shot hit with the outside of his right foot. Fortunately for the Newcastle manager, though, the shortcomings on view were not restricted to his own side.
Instead of going for the jugular, Arsenal sat back after the break.