Manchester United denied Arsenal the victory which would have settled the
title race with a late equaliser at Highbury but the trophy still seems way
beyond their grasp.
For most of the second half, since Thierry Henry struck a goal of mesmerising
power five minutes after the restart, Arsenal looked to have made sure of the
Barclaycard Premiership crown with eight games left.
United, however, had one last riposte, with substitute Louis Saha striking an
equaliser with just four minutes remaining after Arsene Wenger's substitutions
had handed them back the initiative.
It was still not enough to make any major difference though. For while Arsenal
had suffered a setback, it is, in truth, merely a minor irritant on an
inevitable path to the Premiership title.
For this was a day on which United realistically needed to win at Highbury to
resurrect their hopes as Arsenal still hold a 12-point lead over them, even if
Chelsea are now just seven points behind.
Indeed, the Gunners remain unbeaten, setting a top-flight record of having
avoided defeat in their opening 30 league games of the season.
The game intermittently threatened to explode into controversy, although there
was thankfully no repeat of the melee which marred their combustible Old
Trafford meeting earlier this season.
Instead, while United depended more on strength and power, Arsenal relied
principally on pace and movement.
Chances were plentiful in a breathtaking first half, with most of them falling
to the home side.
Wes Brown nevertheless produced a superb sliding tackle to deny Fredrik
Ljungberg, while Roy Carroll foiled not only the Swede but also Jose Reyes on
two other occasions.
Jens Lehmann was scarcely troubled but still needed to produce a smart save to
save Eric Djemba-Djemba's long-range volley as United countered.
It was all thrust and counter-thrust but the beast threatened to eclipse the
beauty as passions ran higher and higher.
Gary Neville and Henry should both have been booked for diving in search of
penalties, while Patrick Vieira again tangled with Ruud van Nistelrooy.
That was the clash which sparked the Old Trafford melee and when the Dutchman
again made the most of being caught by Vieira, their team-mates waded in.
This time, however, while Neville argued with Pires and even Arsene Wenger and
Sir Alex Ferguson aired their differences on the touchline, order was
maintained.
Roy Keane drove a shot wide just before the break, but United could do nothing
about the flash of inspiration from Henry five minutes after the restart.
Reyes laid the ball off to the Frenchman, standing almost 30 yards from goal,
but such was the ferocity of his strike that Carroll merely flapped one arm at
the ball as it thundered past him.
In doing so, he equalled Ian Wright's club record of 104 Premiership goals,
while the player of the year title seems almost certain to follow.
United were stunned and their mood was not improved when Ryan Giggs was denied
a penalty after Sol Campbell appeared to bring him down accidentally as he
tripped over in hot pursuit of the Welshman.
Ferguson's response was to bring on Saha for Djemba-Djemba to boost his
attacking options, but it took time to have any effect.
Reyes and Pires instead narrowly failed to meet Ljungberg's driven cross,
while Carroll also saved again at the Spaniard's feet and the Swede just ran out
of steam on a counter-attack.
Arsenal introduced both Gilberto Silva and Pascal Cygan in a bid to stiffen
their resolve, but it actually had the opposite effect of handing the impetus to
United.
Lehmann denied Giggs from a tight angle, while Scholes hit the side-netting,
but Saha was then left unmarked to finish from close range after Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer's low cross had eluded the Arsenal defence.
That was with just four minutes left, but it did not appear to be enough to
save United's title challenge as van Nistelrooy headed straight at Lehmann.
Arsenal should themselves have finished the game off in injury-time only for
Lauren to waste a clear opening before Henry headed wide.
The title still seems inexorably bound for Highbury but the ceremony must wait
a while just yet.
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