Goals: Adebayor 51', 84', Butt 89' (og.)

Arsene Wenger insisted Arsenal's team spirit is rock solid after they booked an FA Cup fifth round berth with a 3-0 win over Newcastle.

The Gunners had been the subject of unusually negative scrutiny in the build-up to this fourth round tie after Emmanuel Adebayor head-butted teammate Nicklas Bendtner in the 5-1 League Cup defeat at Tottenham last Tuesday.

Adebayor, who is believed to have been fined a week's wages - around 35,000 pounds - for his indisrection, was forced to make a public apology in the wake of the incident, but he responded in fine fashion here by scoring two superb second-half goals on Saturday.

Wenger, for his part, believes too much importance was attached to the flare-up and even claimed that he had yet to see proof that Adebayor had even touched Bendtner, despite the Dane suffering a cut nose in the incident.

"Everyone has played football and in what team does that kind of incident not happen?" he asked "I am surprised that in a country with such a history in the game that so much is made of it.

"This team has done very well all season and I wasn't worried before the game. It is something to talk about but there are disagreements in every team. People play rugby in this country and that is where people get hit every week. I was not shocked.

"Nothing happened. There were 200 hundred photgraphers and seven cameras around the pitch and everyone tried to find one where Adebayor hit Bendtner but they didn't find anything.

"So why should anyone come to the conclusion that Adebayor hit Bendtner? If they had he would have been suspended."

If this is always Adebayor's response to adversity, perhaps he should confront his colleagues more often.

The 23-year-old produced a second-half masterclass and Newcastle, who had subdued him effectively in a stale first period, simply could not live with him.

His first goal came six minutes after half-time, Adebayor reacting smartly after Eduardo's shot had clattered the post to turn Claudio Cacapa and ram a shot high past Shay Given.

He was only denied a second moments later by a superb tackle from James Milner but his frustrations were soothed in the 84th minute when a surging run took him past the despairing David Rozehnal and Cacapa and a low shot had enough power to trickle in despite Steven Taylor's efforts on the goal-line.

For Newcastle, who leaked a late third when Nicky Butt inadvertently headed in Cesc Fabregas' free-kick, this was a familiar story of failure and frustration.

The visitors had been lively in the first half and might have stolen ahead had Damien Duff's shot not been cleared off the line by Gael Clichy, but ultimately defensive fragilities were their undoing.

Jonathan Woodgate, the Middlesbrough defender who held talks with Newcastle over a seven million pounds transfer on Friday, might have supplied some much-needed solidity but Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan revealed that he now expects the England international to join Tottenham.

Keegan is likely to have to rely on the same players when they return to Arsenal in the Premier League on Tuesday, although he was encouraged by elements of his team's performance.

"It was a very good first half performance," he said. "We had the courage to play them, we were going along nicely and causing them problems, while they were not giving us much grief.

"But we could not keep it up and in the end, the gulf was pretty big. Our biggest problem is confidence. When the first goal went in, you could not really see us coming back from that. These players are still a little bit scared."

Arsenal: Lehmann, Justin Hoyte, Senderos, Gallas, Clichy, Diaby (Silva 76), Flamini, Fabregas, Rosicky (Eduardo 9'), Walcott (Hleb 76'), Adebayor.

Newcastle: Given, Carr, Taylor, Cacapa, Jose Enrique (Rozehnal 77'), Milner, Butt, N'Zogbia, Duff (LuaLua 82'), Smith, Owen.