After the drama, the tedium. It was supposed to be a memorable title
celebration at Highbury, but for 90 minutes of pure frustration, someone had
forgotten to inform Steve Bruce.
The Birmingham boss was not the first manager to pack his defence at Highbury,
knowing only too well that an attacking policy can simply lead to Arsenal
tearing your team apart on the break.
Indeed, at any other stage of the season, a draw at Highbury would be an
eminently respectable result, achieved previously in this campaign only by
Portsmouth, Fulham and Manchester United.
His central defence of Matthew Upson and Kenny Cunningham were excellent, his
central midfield of Robbie Savage and Stephen Clemence indefatigable.
However, even a draw was simply not enough to keep their faint hopes of
European football alive as they now trail Liverpool and Newcastle by four points
with just two games left.
The Arsenal fans, meanwhile, simply enjoyed the pre-match build-up and the
post-match atmosphere, conveniently forgetting what passed for a competitive
match in between.
With just one shot on target all afternoon, all the neat flicks and one-touch
passing in the centre circle mattered little.
Indeed, the only real drama was when Martin Keown - needing to appear in all
four remaining games to earn his winner's medal - was brought on as the last
substitute with just 15 seconds left.
Then again, Arsenal are champions already and their unbeaten league run
remains intact, with just Fulham, Portsmouth and Leicester standing between them
and a slice of history.
This was just a damp squib of a party. One in which the candles would not
light and the guests were all late.
However, with leading scorer Mikael Forssell out injured, Birmingham's
intentions were clear enough as midfielder David Dunn returned to the side
behind lone striker Clinton Morrison.
Stand-in 'keeper Ian Bennett was nevertheless not even seriously tested as the
Gunners went through the motions before half-time.
Arsenal's main problem was in finding the space from which to launch their
attacks as Savage and Clemence closed them down in midfield.
Dennis Bergkamp, who was out on the right flank, delivered a chip over the bar
after a neat back-flick from Gilberto Silva.
Jose Reyes, who was meanwhile up front in what will presumably be Arsenal's
first-choice strike partnership for next season, also clipped two shots wide.
Otherwise, however, despite their clear domination of possession, Arsenal
found themselves surrounded by blue shirts, with Thierry Henry closed down by
four opponents on one occasion.
Birmingham's threat was even more restricted, with Clemence's volley blocked
at the far post and despite the considerable endeavour of Dunn, there was too
little support to make any real impact.
Wenger switched his attack around at the start of the second half, with
Bergkamp now in a central role, with Reyes on the left and Fredrik Ljungberg
over on the right flank.
It made little immediate difference, although Birmingham were at least
starting to commit more men forward and Clemence had the first shot on target
after a full 66 minutes had elapsed.
Henry sent a quickly-taken free-kick going wide of the post, while Reyes'
cross just eluded Kolo Toure.
However, the onus was on Birmingham to up the tempo and Morrison was not sharp
enough to pounce on a dangerous cross from Lazaridis.
Even five substitutions failed to enliven the proceedings as Bergkamp's late
penalty appeal was turned down.
Then again, at least when the final whistle blew, the Arsenal party could
start again in earnest.
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