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Arsenal deny Chelsea at the death; Why there’s more to Saracens than money

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta with his Chelsea counterpart Frank Lampard after last night’s draw. Photograph: EPA

Hector Bellerin grabbed a last-gasp equaliser for 10-man Arsenal in a 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night as the visitors recovered from a first-half David Luiz red card to peg back the Blues twice in a pulsating London derby. Manchester City closed the gap on league leaders Liverpool to 13 points (the Reds have two games in hand) after Sergio Agüero came off the bench to score the winner against Sheffield United. For a round-up of last night's four other Premier League games click here. Tonight Manchester United host Burnley and Tottenham take on Norwich - but Irish youngster Troy Parrott will not be in action for Spurs with their manager José Mourinho claiming he is simply not ready to replace the injured Harry Kane.

In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Gordon D'Arcy explains why there's more to Saracens' success than money: "There is more to this club than money. They have created something that cannot only be achieved from financial investments. I've also seen this in Leinster. We've see it at Thomond Park too. You cannot force players that are only motivated by money to create intangible bonds on a sporting field, which separate the good from the great and win tight matches that live long in the mind."

Sean Moran writes that the arbitrary switch of the under-20 football championship has caused havoc in the GAA's education sector - the competition was mysteriously transported from its allotted dates in the summer to the busiest time of the year for young players: "What were Central Council thinking of – if it's the right phrase – when they decided at short notice to rip up arrangements for a developmental competition that had fulfilled its remit after only two years?"

Meanwhile defending champion Novak Djokovic is into the third round of the Australian Open after beating Japanese wildcard Tatsuma Ito 6-1 6-4 6-2. There he'll meet another Japanese player in Yoshihito Nishioka, who knocked out British 30th seed Dan Evans in straight sets, for a place in the fourth round.