in spite of conceding two late goals against chelsea, arsenal won by a solitary goal on new year's day to maintain their lead. two goals from henry against birmingham city took his total for the club to 100 goals in all competitions; wenger declared the display – a 4–0 win, as his team's best since beating leeds united in september. henry scored a hat-trick for arsenal against west ham united on 19 january 2003 but the team drew at liverpool in spite of a polished performance; emile heskey headered the ball into the net, scoring for the home team after 90 minutes. on 1 february 2003, pires scored a late goal against fulham, extending arsenal's lead to six points at the top. this was followed by a 1–1 draw against newcastle united; manager sir bobby robson after the game criticised referee neale barry for his decision to send off midfielder laurent robert and dennis bergkamp's role in the dismissal, suggesting he "wasn't trying to play the ball to anybody. he kicked the ball against laurent – i've seen other players do that and i don't like it." arsenal beat manchester city 5–1 in their final trip to maine road on 22 february 2003. the first four goals, all scored before the half-hour, came at a time when "[alex] ferguson ordered the radio to be switched before they reached old trafford, presumably in ghastly silence."