Gunners escape with precious point

WHEN YOU face a two-week period that could define your season, it is hardly the best start to be completely outplayed by one of your principal rivals, barely test the opposition goalkeeper and see both your defensive linchpin and principal striker come off injured.

Yet despite all of those events coming to pass last night, Arsenal still managed to escape Villa Park with a valuable point that could prove crucial at the end of the season.

Yes, the visitors twice hit the woodwork, but they were second-best throughout a contest that somehow ended goalless. Manuel Almunia may not have been duly untroubled as Villa failed to score for a fourth successive League game for the first time in eight years, but Manchester United and Chelsea will not be unduly perturbed on this evidence.