Points made, points shared

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 0

The champions are battling Chelsea on and off the pitch right now, 11 points behind them in the Premiership and calling for a Premier League enquiry after the champions-elect were accused of meeting Arsenal defender Ashley Cole for illegal transfer talks.

But Cole played against his potential future employers and performed with distinction as the north London side delayed Chelsea's inexorable run to their first league title since 1955.

This result means Chelsea can no longer win the championship by beating Fulham at home on Saturday, and instead must look to a difficult away trip at Bolton on April 30 to complete their dream.

Cole said: "It was a good team performance from us. We tried to attack as much as possible but they defended well. It looks like Chelsea's title but we are still going to keep going."

"Manchester United losing today is good as well but we just have to concentrate on getting three points ourselves. If we can't get first we want to make sure we're second."

As usual Chelsea went into the match with just as many headlines concerning matters off the pitch as those on it.

That 'chance' two-hour meeting between chief executive Peter Kenyon and Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand spread between two restaurants in London, is a story that just will not die. And, of course, there is Jose Mourinho. This time he had infuriated UEFA with disparaging remarks made during a new weekly chat show on Portuguese television.

Then, in the build-up to the game, Chelsea were back in the news when a Premier League tribunal ruled they are entitled to seek compensation from Romanian striker Adrian Mutu after he was sacked for taking cocaine.

There was always the potential for stories at both ends of the book in this fixture, with Chelsea up against Cole. But for those more interested in football than politics, the Blues also went into the match knowing victory would put them just three points away from winning the title for the first time in 50 years.

Arsenal were not about to give up their title easily, however, and they certainly started the stronger.

In fact, they should have gone ahead with a textbook move that saw Lauren cross from the right for Jose Reyes to head into Robert Pires' path after just three minutes. The Frenchman caught the ball perfectly on the volley with his left foot but saw his effort cannon back off the crossbar from 18 yards.

A few minutes later he had an even better chance when a Dennis Bergkamp effort deflected twice before reaching his French colleague unmarked 10 yards out but somehow Pires dragged his shot wide of the left-hand post.

Chelsea settled into the stride as the first half wore on, however, and carved out two excellent chances of their own.

First a terrific tackle from Ricardo Carvalho set up a sweeping move that ended with Damien Duff laying off a perfect ball for Didier Drogba whose shot was superbly saved by Jens Lehmann.

Then Drogba cut in from the right after 33 minutes and sliced a pass to Joe Cole when he really should have shot leaving Eidur Gudjohnsen to shoot for goal and Pires, of all people, to clear off the line.

Both teams played an equal part in an entertaining game after that, Arsenal producing the more fluent football with Pires, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva at the fore but Chelsea ever more dangerous on the break.

The home side almost grabbed a lead just before half-time when Joe Cole produced a strong run and shot that fizzed narrowly over the bar. And although Arsenal controlled possession after the break, Drogba came mighty close to breaking the deadlock after 57 minutes when he swivelled on a superb cut-back from Duff and fired a right-foot effort just wide.

Lampard also unnerved the Arsenal defence, firing narrowly wide on 66 minutes after Drogba had cleverly dummied a William Gallas cross from the left.

Those were rare chances, however, and it became clear that Chelsea were happy to settle for a point.

As for Arsenal, a point may feel like little consolation right now as the Premiership trophy gradually slips from their hands. But their performance at least showed that, even without a Highbury oil field, the Gunners aren't ready to bow to a new Chelsea dynasty just yet.

CHELSEA: Cech; Johnson, Carvalho, Terry, Gallas; Duff (Kezman 85), Lampard, Makelele, J Cole (Tiago 78); Gudjohnsen (Jarosik 90), Drogba.

ARSENAL: Lehmann; Lauren, Toure, Senderos, A Cole; Fabregas (Aliadiere 81), Vieira, Gilberto, Pires; Reyes, Bergkamp (van Persie 78).

Referee: S Bennett (Kent).