No one can be shocked that Ashley Cole's role yesterday was more pantomime than profound. Booed by Arsenal fans and cheered by the Chelsea contingent, all that appeared missing at times was Arsene Wenger and his assistant, Pat Rice, trooping on jauntily dressed as a horse. It seemed fated, though, that the left back would become involved in one moment of genuine controversy and so it proved as Chelsea grabbed a deserved equaliser.
The sight of an agitated Wenger complaining long and hard on the touchline after Michael Essien thundered a brilliant goal was prompted by his belief that Cole won the ball unfairly off Alexander Hleb to start the move that led to the Ghanaian's strike. "I felt it was a foul," the Arsenal manager confirmed, and television replays suggested he may have had a point, but Cole is unlikely to have headed home feeling guilty.
The way he celebrated Essien's leveller showed he was never minded to join those players who react in the most low-key manner possible to goals scored against a former club. The left back hardly overdid the revelry but after hugging Arjen Robben he moved across the pitch to high-five Frank Lampard and celebrate with Essien.
The 25-year-old could scarcely be blamed for enjoying the moment, not just as he chases the title but amid the abuse he took from the Arsenal supporters here.
This was hardly a case of "Welcome to Hell" for Cole, with the vast majority of a 42,000 crowd strongly backing him. But the Arsenal contingent made their voices heard. There were predictable songs accusing Cole of greed, with fake "Bank of Russia" notes in circulation showing Cole's face. A ditty aimed at Cole and his wife, Cheryl Tweedy, was aired but never did the Arsenal fans yell at their former hero with such gusto and pleasure as they did after Mathieu Flamini gave their team the lead.
"Ashley, what's the score?" they boomed, mindful that the Hleb cross that set up Flamini had come from Cole's side of the pitch. Neither Cole nor the Arsenal fans could feel totally satisfied at the end, Cole's expression reflecting the points lost in the chase to catch Manchester United.
His performance was average, unable to match his understated introduction during a pre-match reading of the teams as "the greatest left back in the world, England's Ashley Cole". The cheering from the blue corner and jeering from the red was unsurprising.
If Cole had hoped to show Arsenal what they were missing, he did not manage it. His successor, Gael Clichy, acquitted himself decently, including when faced by Shaun Wright-Phillips in the closing stages, and Cole was below his best. Most of his work was adequate but he was not as snappy defensively as he can be and he handed possession straight to Arsenal at times. A late tackle on Hleb in the 24th minute got the caution it merited.
Only once did he get dangerously into the penalty area with the ball and it was apparent his team-mates are not yet adjusted to deliver the service he enjoyed under Wenger. When Cole, in the 15th minute, fed a pass to Andriy Shevchenko and made the sort of dart into the area that Robert Pires was so astute at picking out, the return ball never arrived.
Cole was soon encouraging Alan Wiley to book Cesc Fabregas and the relationship between those two is clearly sour after Cole's disparaging comments about the Spaniard in his book. Referring to Fabregas taking over from Patrick Vieira, he had suggested it was "like putting the gloves of a heavyweight champion on the hands of an unproven featherweight and telling him to go out there and knock out the opposition".
Words seemed to be exchanged during the game and the pair studiously avoided eye contact, never mind a handshake, at the finish. Others were more welcoming of the England international, not least Johan Djourou and Emmanuel Eboue and Cole trotted off clutching an Arsenal jersey he had swapped with Clichy. That is no longer the prized possession to him that it once was and he may just enjoy a chuckle that his 84th-minute challenge on Hleb has caused upset at Arsenal.
Guardian Service
