English FA Premiership/Arsenal - 2 Chelsea - 2: Death by dead ball. Arsenal's defence of the title is at risk of being killed off by their fatal weakness at set-pieces. Chelsea twice came from behind to equalise in such a situation and it is only the scoreline that can claim the honours were shared.

Jose Mourinho's team left with the swag. They departed the home of the reigning champions with no real harm done to their ambitions. It is the Highbury club who will be disconcerted when a glance at the table tells them they are not even second anymore.

Everton, four points adrift, are nominally in the hottest pursuit of Chelsea. At present, though, it does not look as if anyone will collar them. Another weekend is over and still they have not been infected with doubt. A relentless and engrossing occasion failed to overwhelm them.

The players, most of whom are foreigners, were awash with traditionally bullish enterprise. The visitors, however, weathered their own annoyance over Arsenal's second goal and lasted the pace. Another side might also have had its thoughts scrambled by falling behind so soon after kick-off.

While Chelsea amassed proof of their durability, Arsenal cannot help but torment themselves with thoughts of their own deep-seated difficulties. They are currently likely to concede goals at set-pieces whenever Sol Campbell is not in place to clear and no one can expect even the England centre-half to be omnipresent in the penalty area.

So long as they are in this condition Arsenal have to pull off remarkable feats to get the better of high-calibre rivals. Thierry Henry, however, came very close to endowing the side with such marvels. Arsenal's prospects rose and fell with the outcome of his impassioned endeavours.

With some 80 seconds gone, he made an atypical leap to win Cesc Fabregas's long ball with a header and then took the return from Jose Antonio Reyes before slanting a left-foot volley across Petr Cech and into the net.

When Arsenal needed someone to re-establish the lead, he was crafty. After 29 minutes, Robert Pires went down most readily under Claude Makelele's nominal challenge. Henry, with the Chelsea wall still a work in progress, struck the free-kick quickly and, with the aid of a small deflection off Tiago, clipped the ball into the unattended corner of the net.

Cech was at the other post. The referee Graham Poll might be faulted for not retreating to give Chelsea a clue that play was about to resume but Eidur Gudjohnsen realised and was trying to get his goalkeeper's attention. Unless Poll was actually advising Henry to take the free-kick, though, there should be no protest. Within the scope of his discretion a referee ought to be the ally of attacking football.

Chelsea's lapses at the set-piece was trifling by comparison with the Arsenal aberrations. Rosenborg had alarmed the Gunners even in a 5-1 hounding last week, so Mourinho's side were bound to take an even more savage advantage. Their first equaliser, after 29 minutes, saw Henry inadvertently impede Campbell and no one else reacted to distract John Terry before he headed Arjen Robben's free-kick cleanly past Manuel Almunia.

With the second half barely begun, parity was again achieved with minimal trouble. Lauren was sloppy in his ball control and then foolish in his foul on Robben. Terry's run pulled Campbell towards the near-post so that the other sensitive areas were occupied by the teenager Fabregas and the small Ashley Cole. The latter was beaten to Frank Lampard's free-kick by William Gallas and Gudjohnsen, getting in front of Kolo Toure, stooped to head the knock-down into the top corner.

Arsenal lack the muscular presence to resist and would have fallen behind if Lampard, unmarked, had not sent his attempt from a Damien Duff corner sailing over six minutes later. This was too well-contested a match for either side to hold sway for long but there are players on both sides who will clutch their faces at the chances that eluded them.

Robben, for instance, shook off Fabregas after 69 minutes and zipped inside Cole before seeing his effort from five yards deflected behind by Almunia. The officials failed to see that touch by the goalkeeper but his athleticism was recognised on other occasions, as when he tipped a Gudjohnsen drive over the bar in the 25th minute.

Henry seemed to have made it his personal mission to overcome Chelsea. He was leader as well as star, quick to applaud the effort by substitute Robin van Persie that flew just wide after Makelele had been robbed by Fabregas.

The Spanish youngster was full of ideas and confidence. With 13 minutes left he linked well with Henry and Pires but the man who had already scored twice skewed his shot when he should have snatched victory.

Chelsea, masterful in periods when they found their rhythm and resilient the rest of the time, will not care they are still to beat Arsenal in the league since Arsene Wenger arrived in 1996. After all, they could well be on their way to the title itself.