BY OLIVER HOLT ( The Times )

At a similar stage last season, United's 1-0 home defeat by Arsène Wenger's side heralded the beginning of their slide from the head of the table and the start of Arsenal's charge to replace them. It will have helped United immeasurably to have avoided the same fate again.

They had fallen behind to a smartly taken goal from Nicolas Anelka two minutes after half-time, but 13 minutes later Andy Cole became the first player since Dion Dublin, more than ten hours of playing time before him, to breach the Arsenal defences.

United, for whom Dwight Yorke missed a first-half penalty, could have won it near the end, but Roy Keane blasted his shot high over the bar from 12 yards after David Beckham's shot had been deflected into his path. The draw leaves Arsenal five points behind United with a game in hand, better placed than at the same stage last year.

With Chelsea and Aston Villa faltering, it is beginning to look as if Wenger and Alex Ferguson will soon be going head-to-head for the title again. "Chelsea are the best team we have played this season," Ferguson said. "To be honest, you could toss a coin between the three of us.

"What pleases me is our form at the moment, but don't forget that we do not do it easy at this club. We like to keep you hanging on and give you your money's worth for your season-ticket.

"I think Arsenal will look back on that match far more fondly than we will. I thought they were lucky tonight, but the most important thing was that we played well. There is plenty of mileage yet in the championship this season."

Neither side let their manager down last night. Both gave everything until the final whistle on a pitch that played as slickly as a skating rink at the start, as heavily as a bog by the end. They displayed enough skill and pace, enough commitment, that either side could have clinched victory in the dying minutes. Stam and Adams were unshakeable in their respective defences; Keane and Vieira fought each other to a standstill in midfield.

That this was something more than the usual meat and drink of the league was evident when Beckham tackled Vieira in the first half. For Arsenal, there was even a measure of redemption after the shame of their unsportsmanlike behaviour against Sheffield United. They returned the ball to United on one occasion after Schmeichel had kicked it rather suspiciously into touch to allow treatment for the stricken Bould.

Kanu, the arch villain on Saturday, had an impressive full debut. Languid and loping, he was at the heart of a spell of Arsenal pressure in the opening 20 minutes that threatened to embarrass United.

Arsenal forged the first chance in the third minute, Parlour threading a pass out to Anelka on the right. When Anelka clipped his cross into the middle, Parlour met it with a right-foot volley that Schmeichel had to dive smartly to his left to smother.

The home crowd held their breath again a few minutes later as Johnsen and Schmeichel dithered on the edge of the penalty area and Anelka came within an ace of nipping in to take the ball around the goalkeeper.

Gradually, though, like men who have weathered the early stages of a storm, United began to find their sea legs. Yorke flicked a cross on to Beckham on the right touchline and then rose to direct a powerful header at Seaman. Then, after half an hour, Keane ran through a tackle from Bould before the Arsenal goalkeeper came to the rescue again by blocking his shot with his body and watching gratefully as the ball spiralled over the crossbar.

A minute later, United won their penalty. A deep corner fell to Johnsen on the edge of the box, and as he pushed the ball past Parlour, a mistimed intervention sent him crashing. Yorke strolled up to take the kick with the confidence of a man who has scored 21 goals this season, but slid his shot well wide of Seaman's left-hand post.

Cole nearly made amends two minutes later, when he darted in front of Bould to get to Beckham's cross, turned beautifully and advanced on Seaman. He hit his shot low and true, but Seaman was equal to it again and blocked it with his legs.

Two minutes after the interval, United paid for their profligacy. Kanu tricked Stam, who had defended immaculately until then, with a lovely feint, and when his shot was blocked, Anelka pounced on the rebound and rifled the ball into the roof of an empty net.

Gradually, though, United were forcing their way back into the game, and in the 61st minute they equalised. Beckham, who had drifted out of the game, fed a short pass out to Phil Neville and, when he cut inside onto his right foot and crossed, Cole stole between Adams and Bould and directed a simple header low past Seaman.

Midway through the half there were tumultuous calls for another United penalty when Beckham fell under a challenge from Vieira, but play was waved on.

United were becoming an altogether more formidable proposition. They should have grabbed the winner with 18 minutes left, but Cole checked after he had been freed by Beckham's pass and allowed Bould to block his shot. Giggs's introduction 15 minutes from the end nearly broke the deadlock, too, but when his cross found Yorke, the Trinidad and Tobago international slid his shot the wrong side of Seaman's left-hand post.

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): P Schmeichel - G Neville, J Stam, R Johnsen, P Neville - D Beckham, N Butt, R Keane (sub: R Giggs, 78min), J Blomqvist (sub: P Scholes, 61) - D Yorke, A Cole.

ARSENAL (4-4-1-1): D Seaman - L Dixon, T Adams, S Bould, N Winterburn (sub: N Vivas, 78) - R Parlour, P Vieira, S Hughes, M Overmars (sub: K Diawara, 88) - N Kanu (sub: R Garde, 61) - N Anelka.

Referee: G Willard.