Taylor
      Lauren  Keown Campbell Cole
Bob (Kanu 80) Vieira (Edu 34) Gilberto Fred
       Henry Bergkamp (Wiltord 75)

Alex Ferguson came onto the pitch at the end as if they'd won something. I guess a draw at Highbury is a good result, but it keeps the destination of the Premiership trophy in Arsenal's hands. And maybe, just maybe, a game and a result like this is exactly what Arsenal needed to rouse them from their slumbers.

Ruud van Nistelrooy gave them the lead in a first half during which Arsenal had had plenty of the ball but without looking very much like breaching United's defences. United on the other hand broke with venom a few times. Ferguson had opted for Solskjaer instead of Beckham (who was on the bench) and they worried us down both flanks. We were lucky to see a couple of dangerous crosses fly through the box without anyone making contact, and to see van Nistelrooy's close-range lob clear the bar - the kind of chance you expect him to score.

The goal came after loose play by Arsenal in midfield gave the ball away, and van Nistelrooy capitalised with a terrific solo run, beating both Keown and Campbell and rounding it off with a chip over the outrushing Arsenal keeper Stuart Taylor (Seaman missing the game through illness).

Vieira had to come off not long after that opener. He had his troublesome knee heavily bandaged, and had been obviously struggling. His play was good in bursts but sprinkled with uncharacteristic errors. Not good news given that Gilberto wasn't much more animated than usual. He also gave the ball away far too often, and did crazy things like trying to beat Giggs for pace up the wing (when there was a pass on). It's only his first season and he can still coem good, maybe very good. But to date Edu, who came on for Vieira, still looks the Brazilian best suited to our game.

To be frank, it all looked a bit dodgy at half time. We were giving the ball away far too much and trying lots of clever stuff to break through the wall of blue, none of which worked.

But Arsenal looked a lot livelier after the break, and equalised after Ashley Cole did brilliantly to get into a shooting position close to goal, bringing it out of defence and then exchanging passes with Pires, and turning Brown inside-out just inside the box. He then saw his goalbound shot deflected past Barthez by Thierry Henry. It didn't look like Thierry knew much about it but presumably he'll claim it. The scoreboard gave it to Cole, then changed its mind to Henry later on.

To be fair, I think it was Gilberto whose long ball forward found Henry for the second goal. I'm told that Thierry was offside. Oh well, never mind.

The Arsenal celebrations had hardly died down when a great cross by Solskjaer from their right was met by the head of Giggs at point blank range for the equaliser. An intensely disappointing moment, but credit to United for their reaction to our second goal (their heads had gone down a bit after our first).

Campbell was sent off with 9 minutes or so to go. The linesman gave it, and it was right under his nose, so I guess there was something in it. But it's hard to see why he would elbow Solskjaer in that situation. Campbell was bringing the ball away from defence on our left and seemed to be ahead of the Norwegian. Perhaps he didn't realise he was there, or how short he was.

The offence would normally mean a 3 match ban, but because it's his second sending-off of the season Sol will miss 4. That means the Cup Final, as well as the last 3 games of the season. Wenger has so far been non-commital regarding an appeal, but it's hard to see what basis there would be if contact was made (Sol says he wants to appeal, though).

So it's time for Pascal Cygan to prove something to us. Or maybe our "Ukrainian national icon" Oleg Luzhny will come into the equation. Let's just hope that Vieira gets fit. Henry may be the one up for player of the season but it's Vieira and Campbell that have been winning points on their own at times this season.

Henry, incidentally, hit what must be the worst free-kick of the season. From a few yards outside the box on the left, he mishit it totally and sent it saling across the pitch and out for a throw. It certainly confused the United player who took the resulting throw-in... and threw it straight out for an Arsenal throw.

In the dying moments Henry forced a good save by Barthez with a close-range rocket. Credit to Gilberto for filling in again at centreback and helping to keep it to a draw. If we'd lost this one, the bookies that had previously paid out on Arsenal would presumably be paying out all over again.

The substitutions of Wiltord for Bergkamp and Edu for Vieira made sense, but it was curious to see Kanu come on for Pires. The big Nigerian just hasn't been up to speed this year, and once again his main contribution was to lose possession softly through over-casualness. Was Jeffers not available? Once again, in the long spells (especially in the first half) when no Arsenal was making any kind of runs off the ball, I found myself wishing that Franny or Ray was on the pitch. You just know that they wouldn't be standing still when a team-mate had the ball.

A great advert for the Premiership, they'll be saying. It was certainly a blood-and-guts thriller, but neither side played with quite as much skill as they're capable of. We got our money's worth, but it was one of those games where you leave thinking both "this is what it's all about" and "why do we do it to ourselves?".