"That's three times now I've been clipped and booked for no reason," said the Wales winger, who will miss Tuesday's clash with Reading following his fifth yellow card this season.

"People keep saying I'm diving, but if there's contact it's not diving. Referees need to look more closely."

Theo Walcott bolstered his claims for a regular starting place as a central striker with his second-hat-trick this season in Arsenal's topsy-turvy win over 15th-placed Newcastle, which put the London side two points behind Chelsea.

The visitors leveled three times as Demba Ba netted twice to take his league tally to 13, but Walcott's treble was complemented by a late double from substitute forward Olivier Giroud after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski also scored.

Walcott has yet to agree a new contract, and the England international will have no lack of interest from other clubs after taking his tally to 14 goals in all competitions this season -- only Van Persie has more with 17.

Stoke stayed eighth after coming from 3-1 down against third-bottom Southampton, extending the club's unbeaten home record to nine matches thanks to substitute striker Cameron Jerome's spectacular late equalizer.

Defender Matthew Upson had reduced the deficit to 3-2 before teammate Steven Nzonzi was sent off for a challenge on Jack Cork.

Swansea moved up to ninth as Fulham's stand-in keeper David Stockdale gifted the visitors two goals -- the first to striker Danny Graham, playing in place of the Welsh club's top scorer Michu, and the second to Canadian midfielder Jonathan de Guzman.

Bryan Ruiz pulled one back after Dimitar Berbatov hit the crossbar, and the Bulgarian had a late effort ruled out for offside as the London side ended the year just four points above the relegation zone in 14th place.

Wigan moved out of the bottom three after handing fellow strugglers Aston Villa a third successive defeat that will increase the pressure on manager Paul Lambert after the 8-0 demolition by Chelsea and a 4-0 home loss to Spurs.

Reading stayed second from bottom despite the promoted club winning for only the second time this season, thanks to a fifth-minute goal from Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak that extended 12th-placed West Ham's winless run to four matches.