Walcott stars as Arsenal rout Newcastle

Theo Walcott gave Arsene Wenger yet another reminder of his goal-scoring talents as he bagged a stunning hat-trick to sink Newcastle 7-3 in a 10-goal thriller at the Emirates Stadium.

Walcott scored the opener with a fine curled finish following a break from the halfway line. Newcastle pulled level through Demba Ba, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored, only for Ba to grab his second to make it 2-2.

Arsenal looked set for a disappointing draw after Sylvain Marveaux equalised Lukasz Podolski's header, but Walcott turned on the class to put the Gunners 4-3 up. The former Southampton man set up Olivier Giroud twice and added his much-deserved third strike in injury time with a deft chip over Tim Krul.