Krul plays down spat with Arsenal's Van Persie

The pair had been sniping at each other throughout the game, before becoming involved in a furious verbal exchange following Thomas Vermaelen’s late winner. Team-mates from either side had to drag the two apart before they were both cautioned by referee Howard Webb. Krul says he was disappointed with the row and believes both him and Van Persie simply got carried away in the heat of the moment. “I was disappointed with the incident involving Robin,” Krul told reporters. “We are both professional sportsmen, and what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. “We are playing in arguably the best and toughest league in the world, and things like this happen. “There is only one thing on my mind during a game, and that is to win.” Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has also moved to dismiss the significance of the row, defending both parties’ involvement in the altercation. “It’s just unfortunate,” Pardew told The Shields Gazette. “There were words between them at the start about this and that. “It was a last-minute goal. It happens. If we’d scored in the last minute, I’m sure one or two of them would have been upset with us.”