This Week in Football History: Newcastle's incredible four goal comeback

Cheick Tiote celebrates his incredible last minute volley against Arsenal in 2011

Only once in Premier League history has a side come from 4-0 down to salvage a point. Today, Adrian North looks back on his favourite game from the Premier League era - the bonkers 4-4 draw between Newcastle and Arsenal in 2011.

February 5, 2011 - Newcastle United 4-4 Arsenal, St James Park: The comeback to end all comebacks.

There is a line in football between clinging onto hope and giving up entirely. That line is seeing your team 3-0 down at half time.

At 3-0 down even the most pessimistic of fans usually stick around for another 15 minutes to see what might happen. Of course, you're almost never rewarded and you end up having several more sorrowful pints than the occasion calls for. However, every so often in the life of a football fan you get to witness your beloved club come back from a seemingly deep and endless grave. And while a comeback from 3-0 to 3-3 may happen once a season, only United, Wolves, Leeds, and Wimbledon fans have seen their side turn a 3-0 deficit into three points while City famously managed it in the FA Cup and I remember the most incredible comeback of them all like it was yesterday.

But at 4-0 down you're done for. Nobody comes back from that. Give up, go home and angrily delete your planned Match of the Day recording.

Except there was this one time, and only this one time, where the Premier League saw its own version of The Resurrection, starring the ever biblical figures of Alan Pardew, Joey Barton and Cheick Tiote.

February 5, 2011, saw Newcastle, at a time of the season where they were approaching one of the many bowls of Pardew and Mike Ashley's infinite rollercoaster, face Arsenal, flailing themselves at the coat tails of Manchester United, in the first game back after an extraordinarily controversial deadline day for both sides.

This weekend also saw the highest number of goals scored on a single Premier League day but such results as Everton 5-3 Blackpool or Wigan 4-3 Blackburn have long since been forgotten.

What took place at St James' Park that afternoon was unprecedented in Premier League history and, for pure entertainment value, it is my favourite game of English football I've ever watched and apart from Sweden vs Germany from a couple years ago this is also the only time I can ever remember a team coming from 4-0 down at half time to claim a point.

Theo Walcott, Johan Djourou and Robin van Persie had put the Gunners three up in ten minutes, and by the break Van Persie had grabbed another. Newcastle were beyond pathetic, and one unfortunate Geordie was caught on TV walking out of the stadium.

At half-time I can only assume Pardew, after whispering a nasty thing or two in the ear of Abou Diaby, gave a speech to rival the likes of Aragorn or President Whitmore.

After five minutes of the second half Diaby had grabbed Barton by the neck and been sent off. Down to ten men Arsenal would collapse so spectacularly they now belong in a category with Rory McIlroy, the New York Yankees of 2003 and the England cricket team on the 2006/07 Ashes tour of Australia.

On 69 minutes Leon Best was clumsily fouled by Laurent Koscielny and Barton scored from the spot. Best then poked in a second before having a legitimate goal ruled out. Minutes later, two wrongs made a right as Phil Dowd gave one of the most inexplicable penalties I've ever seen and the stage was set for a tenacious Ivorian to blast home a stupendous volley with two minutes left.

Tiote's goal, the celebrations and the greatest piece of radio commentary ever all make this one of the Premier League's most brilliant moments, and while I couldn't find full highlights on Youtube here is the Match of the Day segment for the game.