Newcastle United suffered their first defeat of the season when they were comprehensively beaten by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Robin Van Persie looked close to his best as he scored a brace in the first half while Denilson scored his first goal of the season as Arsenal notched up a convincing win over Newcastle. The visitors came closest to scoring a goal in the second half when Nicky Butt saw his header smash against the post but manager Kevin Keegan will have no complaints over the score line as his side were outplayed in almost all areas of the field.

The Gunners were on the attack right from the kick off and had a penalty appeal dismissed after Van Persie fell down under a challenge from Fabricio Coloccini. William Gallas went close to scoring his third goal of the season when he side footed Bacary Sagna's flick on well wide of the target.

Arsenal were given a penalty in the 18th minute when Charles N'Zogbia handled the ball inside the area and Van Persie made no mistake from the spot. Newcastle's first real chance fell to Michael Owen as he failed to convert Jonas Gutierrez's cross from close range.

The hosts doubled the lead four minutes from half time when Eboue found Van Persie and the Ducth international slotted the ball past Shay Given to score his second of the match. Newcastle came close to reducing the deficit in the second half when Butt headed against the cross bar.

Denilson linked up well with Samir Nasri and Adebayor to score his first goal of the match in the 59th minute and Van Persie nearly added the fourth but saw his shot smash against the post as Arsenal dominated the match right until the final whistle.