Laurent Koscielny's goal saw the Gunners pull two points clear of second-place Leicester City at the Premier League summit on Saturday, while Rooney scored a milestone winner for Manchester United.
Koscielny nailed home a flick-on with his teammate Olivier Giroud in the 72nd minute at a rain-lashed Emirates Stadium to earn a below-par Arsenal a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United.
Leicester play goal less draw at home to Bournemouth and now have just a one-point ahead over Manchester City, who produced a rousing comeback to win 2-1 at Watford with late goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
"We were not at our best, but we had to dig deep and we can do that when needed," said Arsenal manager."It was about solidarity, tired legs and taking a chance from a set-piece.
"Over Christmas, in four games we took nine points, so we can look back and say we did 75 percent of our job as we lost at Southampton."
Arsenal were far from their best against Newcastle, with Georginio Wijnaldum drawing smart saves from home goalkeeper Petr Cech either side of halftime and Aleksandar Mitrovic volleying over from close range.
But with the home fans growing restless, Koscielny supplied the breakthrough, sneaking in behind Ayoze Perez to toe the ball past Rob Elliot after Giroud had got his head to a high ball.
Leicester have now gone three league games without winning or scoring after their stalemate against 10-man Bournemouth at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester striker Jamie Vardy hit the post in the first half, while Riyad Mahrez saw a penalty saved by Artur Boruc on the hour after Simon Francis had been sent off for a last-man foul on Vardy.
On the hand Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri was eager to underline the positives, pointing out that his side have now reached the 40-point mark usually required to avoid relegation.
"A draw is not OK, it is only one point, but it is OK as we have 40 points, which was the goal," said the Italian. "It's champagne for my players!"
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