Chelsea - 1 Arsenal - 1: The uncompromising quality of Jose Mourinho's Chelsea has been sullenly acknowledged by rivals, but now that power will be tested as it has never been before in the Premiership. The side rallied yesterday to equalise spectacularly and then hit the woodwork on two occasions in stoppage-time, but Manchester United, glancing over their shoulder, have to peer a little further than expected to make out their nearest pursuers.
Should the champions overcome Newcastle United, who are unbeaten in eight games, on Wednesday, they will still be five points adrift of Alex Ferguson's team. Arsenal were opponents of substance yesterday and, in their Champions League system, tamed the match for extended periods. Chelsea were subdued in a commonplace first-half and the increasing difficulty of retaining the title removes much of the manager's room for manoeuvre.
Mourinho had stated that Andriy Shevchenko is not one of the "untouchables" when it comes to picking the line-up. That remark was a warning, but if the Ukrainian heeded it he could not act upon it against Arsenal. In addition to performing moderately the £30 million signing has necessitated a switch in tactics.
The system, with two strikers, has certainly been productive on occasion, but the improvement was radical when Mourinho took off Shevchenko so that he could have two wingers, in the substitutes Shaun Wright-Phillips and Arjen Robben, on either side of Didier Drogba. That 4-3-3 formation had width and penetration to bring down havoc on Arsenal's heads. Mourinho's scope could be limited, though, if a scan on Drogba's hamstring sees him ruled out of the Newcastle game.
Arsene Wenger's side have cause to be pleased with themselves. A fairly young Arsenal line-up, lacking Kolo Toure and William Gallas, might have smuggled a win out of Stamford Bridge, although it would not have been merited.
As it is, they rue a foul by their former left back Ashley Cole on Alexander Hleb that went unnoticed in the build-up to the 84th-minute equaliser. Whatever consolation exists is to be found in the fact that the goal truly rested on magnificent technique and dynamism. Robben and Frank Lampard combined before Michael Essien smashed a swerving drive into the top corner of the net from 30 yards.
By then, it had appeared Arsenal were equipped to survive. Johan Djourou came through the afternoon well in the callow back four and while Philippe Senderos did have flashbacks to previous traumas inflicted by Drogba, there was no collapse. In front of the defence, the captain, Gilberto Silva, was crucial in making Chelsea's build-up seem ordinary.
That durability depended, too, on the free-running of Emmanuel Adebayor that stopped Chelsea from enjoying total security as he set up half-chances for team-mates including Cesc Fabregas. So close a contest between these clubs spawned irritability that assumed comic form in an incident between Jens Lehmann and Drogba.
The goalkeeper believed the forward had dived when tackled by Senderos and the Ivorian bristled in response. It would be doing them too much credit to argue that they exchanged genuine shoves. Perhaps Alan Wiley actually booked the pair for bringing themselves into disrepute with such simulation.
More often, the competitiveness was genuine. Only with Mourinho's first home Premiership defeat in sight were Arsenal beleaguered and it had never looked inconceivable that they could open the scoring. After 78 minutes, Mathieu Flamini slipped the ball wide to Hleb, took the return pass and shot home.
The goalkeeper Hilario, deputising for the injured Carlo Cudicini, got his hands to the ball and should have stopped it reaching the net. The visiting fans crowed all the more at the goal because it had been Cole, funnelling in the middle, who had allowed Hleb such latitude.
Chelsea's metabolic rate quickened following the substitutions. With 71 minutes gone, Senderos swiped horribly to send the ball out to Robben and the Dutchman went through for a drive that cannoned off Lehmann. Gilberto was sharp to stop Drogba from snapping up the loose ball.
Two minutes into stoppage-time, John Terry met a corner and Essien, contorting himself to reach the knock-down, struck the bar. Later still, Lehmann let a Robben effort slip from his grasp, only for Lampard's attempt to squeeze the ball home to be thwarted as a faint touch from the studs of the covering Flamini eased it on to a post.
Guardian Service
