LONDON — Newcastle produced an epic fightback, Louis Saha scored four and Carlos Tevez bagged a birthday hat-trick as the English Premier League went goal crazy Saturday.
A record 38 goals were scored on an astonishing afternoon of top-flight action as Arsenal saw a four-goal lead amassed inside 26 minutes slip through its grasp in the final 22 minutes of a frantic encounter at St James’ Park.
Everton got the better of Blackpool in another eight-goal encounter, while Wigan shaded a seven-goal thriller with Blackburn at the DW Stadium.
Manchester City cruised to victory over West Brom thanks to Tevez’s first-half treble, Tottenham and Stoke left it late to overcome Bolton and Sunderland, respectively, while Aston Villa and Fulham shared the spoils.
Newcastle produced one of the greatest comebacks in Premier League history to battle back from 4-0 down at home to Arsenal to snatch a point that looked utterly impossible at the interval.
There were less than 60 seconds gone when Theo Walcott burst clear to open the scoring with Johan Djourou and was then left unmarked to head home.
Robin van Persie made it three in the 10th minute after Walcott’s cross before the Dutchman was again allowed the freedom of the area following Bacary Sagna’s pass with just 26 minutes on the clock.
But Abou Diaby’s needless dismissal after the break for shoving Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan changed the game with Barton starting the recovery from the spot in the 68th minute.
Leon Best added to the Gunners’ worries 15 minutes from time and a second Barton penalty in the 83rd further shredded Arsene Wenger’s nerves before Cheick Tiote’s long-range screamer sparked scenes of utter delirium at St James’ Park.
Louis Saha grabbed four goals as Everton triumphed 5-3 in a thriller against Blackpool in atrocious conditions at Goodison Park.
Argentina international Tevez celebrated his 27th birthday with a first-half hat-trick as Manchester City ran riot against struggling West Brom in its 3-0 win.
Roberto Mancini’s men closed to within one point of second-placed Arsenal as the Gunners suffered a second-half capitulation at Newcastle.
Niko Kranjcar reminded Harry Redknapp of his talents with a superb late winner against Bolton to keep Tottenham firmly in the fight for the UEFA Champions League.
The Croatia international, a peripheral figure for much of the season, fired home from the edge of the box deep into added time to secure the points for Spurs
Meanwhile, Wigan scrambled out of the relegation zone — temporarily at least — with a 4-3 success over Blackburn at a drenched DW Stadium.
Fulham twice hit back from a goal down to take a point from its trip to Aston Villa with goalkeeper Brad Friedel not enjoying his finest afternoon.
Robert Huth’s late double broke Sunderland hearts as Stoke twice came from behind to snatch a 3-2 success at a rainy and windswept Britannia Stadium.
