08/09/2001  Chelsea 1 Arsenal 1
 
There was no love lost between the clubs described by 
Emmanuel Petit as his current amour and ex-wife as Chelsea 
survived the controversial dismissal of Jimmy Floyd 
Hasselbaink to earn a point against Arsenal.

After Thierry Henry put Arsenal ahead on 16 minutes, it was 
Hasselbaink who equalised from the penalty spot after Martin 
Keown had been deemed to bring down Gianfranco Zola.

But while Arsenal contested that decision, Hasselbaink was 
absolutely livid at being sent off with 20 minutes left for 
then supposedly elbowing Keown around the face.

Hasselbaink was certainly flailing his arms about as he 
tussled for the ball, but there seemed little immediate reason 
for the England defender to hit the ground with such force.

Reduced to 10 men, but inspired by Marcel Desailly, Chelsea 
at least held on for a point - an improvement on their last 
two home games against Arsenal, when they have twice led 2-0, 
but drawn 2-2 and lost 3-2.

However, it was Arsenal who showed the extra class in a 
frantic encounter even without Petit's former midfield partner 
at Highbury, Patrick Vieira, who was suspended.

With Chelsea's new-look midfield - including Petit - 
inevitably needing time to adjust to each other, the Gunners 
had quickly stamped their authority on the game.

After Chelsea had needlessly conceded possession, Sylvain 
Wiltord and Lauren combined well on the right flank before 
Robert Pires, who had lost his marker, fired in a shot as he 
burst into the box.

Keeper Ed de Goey was only able to parry the ball and it 
fell straight to Henry, standing unmarked 10 yards out from 
goal, for him to sweep his shot into the net after a neat 
first touch.

It was almost 2-0 soon afterwards when Desailly's 
back-header fell short and Wiltord lobbed the ball over de 
Goey, only for Graeme Le Saux to race back and clear the ball 
off the line.

Arsenal looked to have that extra degree of class, 
especially on the break, while Chelsea were committing far too 
many errors as possession slipped through their fingers.

However, they were still back in the game on the half-hour, 
when Keown - recalled to replace Sol Campbell - was deemed to 
have brought down Zola.

The Italian is hardly a diver, but it would be safe to say 
that while he did fall over Keown's leg, the contact was not 
immense.

A tricky decision, but referee Mike Riley pointed to the 
spot and Hasselbaink converted the penalty without any 
fuss.

Chelsea were inevitably given a confidence boost and while 
de Goey needed to be alert to keep out a deflected header by 
Bergkamp just after the break, the home side came again in a 
frantic second period.

Boudewijn Zenden blasted one shot wildly off target, while 
de Goey pulled off a superb one-handed save to deny Ashley 
Cole at the other end.

The real controversy came on 70 minutes when Hasselbaink 
was dismissed, but Chelsea still came agonisingly close to a 
goal soon afterwards when Frank Lampard slid in only to miss 
William Gallas' cross-shot by inches.

The late chances all went to Arsenal as Kanu had one effort 
saved by de Goey and saw another deflected wide, while 
substitute Fredrik Ljungberg also spurned a fine opening.

Chelsea did well to hold on, but this was still yet another 
of those days when Manchester United's rivals cancelled each 
other and continued to leave the path to the Premiership title 
wide open.