Arsenal 3 Newcastle 2
There may have been another refereeing controversy involving Arsenal, but this time it was Newcastle who felt the burning sense of injustice as they fell prey to the Gunners' resilience and the coolness of Thierry Henry.
Arsene Wenger's side badly needed to recover a sense of pride after their antics at Old Trafford last weekend.
They certainly made things hard for themselves, squandering the lead on two occasions, with first Laurent Robert and then Olivier Bernard equalising strikes by Henry and Gilberto Silva.
However, as fate would have it, Arsenal then benefited from the kind of refereeing furore which so frustrated them at Old Trafford.
Having conceded a last-gasp penalty then, only for Ruud van Nistelrooy to strike the crossbar, Arsenal were given their own spot-kick with 10 minutes left at Highbury.
Jermaine Jenas, who was penalised for handball, was aggrieved at the decision, believing he was pushed as he jumped, but referee Mike Riley was unmoved.
Henry stepped up and, despite having missed his last penalty against Inter Milan, nonchalantly chipped his kick down the centre of the goal to seal victory.
And so Arsenal prevailed with not even a caution, let alone a red card against them, to move four points clear at the top of the table after a week of criticism of their indiscipline.
In his programme notes, Wenger renewed his public apology for his team's loss of self-control at Old Trafford last weekend, but promptly kept faith with the six players charged in midweek.
Indeed, it was Martin Keown and Patrick Vieira, the players at the centre of the flashpoints, who were cheered most loudly as Arsenal were given a rousingly supportive reception as they ran out.
The Highbury backs were very firmly against the wall and that is typically when Arsenal come out fighting. Not in the literal sense, of course.
However, there was a distinct sense of urgency from the home side in the frenetic opening exchanges amid pouring rain that did little to help either side keep their feet.
Shay Given saved from Ashley Cole after just 90 seconds and then twice denied Henry, but eventually Arsenal's pressure told, albeit due to an horrendous mistake by centre-back Titus Bramble.
The Newcastle defender embarrassingly failed to even make contact with Lauren's routine cross and allowed the ball to run to Henry, who made no mistake from close range at the far post.
With just 25 minutes gone, Arsenal nevertheless suffered a significant blow when Vieira limped off and was replaced in central midfield by Edu.
Just over a minute later, Newcastle were level as Arsenal's defence, which had previously looked imposing, was suddenly torn apart with ease.
Kieron Dyer beat Keown to the byline to cut the ball back and Robert was on hand, having nipped ahead of both Lauren and Edu, to force a close-range effort over the line.
Thereafter, Arsenal continued to threaten on the break but found Jenas in particularly impressive form in a central midfield now missing Vieira's influence.
The fates were nevertheless still conspiring against Arsenal and when Andy O'Brien's slip enabled Sylvain Wiltord to put Freddie Ljungberg clean through, the Swede's chip curled around Given but rebounded off the post.
Arsenal were also forced into a second substitution soon afterwards, with Pascal Cygan replacing the injured Cole at left-back, and Wenger soon made his final gamble, with Robert Pires replacing Ray Parlour to a chorus of dismay from the home fans.
He was proved correct, however, as Pires took the free-kick awarded for a foul on Ljungberg and swung over a perfect delivery that Gilberto rose to power home with his head.
Ljungberg was able to continue after requiring treatment, but Arsenal again allowed their lead to slip.
Dyer opened up the defence a second time with a superb pass that allowed Bernard to rifle a shot inside the near post.
Newcastle were again buoyant, with Robert's free-kick flashing past the far post, but a refereeing decision this time came to Arsenal's rescue.
Henry ignored the Newcastle protests to keep his cool from the spot and, at the final whistle, it was the visiting players who surrounded the officials - as Arsenal calmly walked from the pitch.