Arsenal's championship challenge, like the clocks, went back yesterday. For the second successive weekend two points were dropped in a scoreless game, this time at home to an Aston Villa team who were superior in industry and imagination and more than once looked like ending the Premiership's one remaining unbeaten record.
Again Dennis Bergkamp, making his last appearance before a three-match ban and recovering from a bout of flu, was unable to inspire Arsenal to anything better. And to complete Highbury's discomfort, Emmanuel Petit was sent off eight minutes from the end for laying hands on the referee, Paul Durkin.
As a result Petit, like Bergkamp, will now miss the visit of Manchester United to Highbury in a fortnight's time. Arsenal's failure to win means that United stay top by a point. Surely somebody at Old Trafford bought a lottery ticket on Friday.
Petit was a little unlucky. The referee's person is sacred but on this occasion it was as much a case of `ref hitting hand' as the other way round.
Arsenal were still claiming a penalty for hands against Ugo Ehiogu, who had intercepted a ball from Ian Wright, when Durkin cautioned Steve Bould for a foul on Dwight Yorke. As Durkin moved forward for the free-kick he practically ran into Petit, so that when contact was made the player could hardly have been said to be pushing the official away.
"I don't think he wanted to push the referee in an aggressive manner," said Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, "it is just not in his nature. The referee must have been surprised. In France, Petit would not have been sent off for that."
Arsenal are considering lodging an appeal to the Football Association against the dismissal. Durkin has already had one red card overturned this season after admitting he was mistaken in sending off Manchester United's Gary Pallister at Bolton last month.
Of course, Petit should not have been protesting at all but by then Arsenal were nearing the end of their tether, having been utterly frustrated by the disciplined defending of Villa's three centrebacks, and especially Riccardo Scimeca, an England Under-21 player who could hardly have failed to impress the watching Glenn Hoddle.
Also watching the game was Paul Gascoigne. "I've signed a three-year contract with Rangers, I'm very happy where I am," he said.
Certainly it was difficult imagine what role Gascoigne would have filled in Villa's makeshift team yesterday. Lacking the suspended Stan Collymore and the injured Ian Taylor, and without Steve Staunton and Savo Milosevic because of the World Cup play-offs, Brian Little packed his midfield with work-horses and relied upon the pace and mobility of Dwight Yorke and Julian Joachim to unsettle the Arsenal defence.
Joachim in particular worried Tony Adams and Bould with his darting, swerving runs. Just past the half-hour he was denied a goal only by the timely advance of David Seaman, who was breaking Jack Kelsey's Arsenal goalkeeping record of 352 appearances.
The longer the match progressed the more Yorke was getting in between the Arsenal centre-backs. After 63 minutes, released by Ehiogu's long pass from the back, he broke clear and again Arsenal were saved by Seaman's agility, this time in turning the ball wide.
Aston Villa needed yesterday's performance. After losing 3-0 at West Ham in the Coca-Cola Cup they had been taken to task by their own captain, Gareth Southgate. Against Arsenal he was left with nothing to complain about.
The one way Villa might have lost yesterday was through poor defending at set-pieces. Paradoxically, while they steadily tracked Arsenal down in open play, they seemed unable to pick up opponents at free-kicks and corners.
After 14 minutes Patrick Vieira was unmarked as he met a corner from Petit but punched the ball into the net, Maradona-fashion, and was booked for it. Vieira then glanced a later corner from Petit wide when he should have hit the target and when he reached a free kick from Bergkamp ahead of everybody else it was merely to volley the ball against the bar.
