No wonder Alex Ferguson was relieved to see the question of Roy Keane's future at Old Trafford put on the back burner. Yesterday the Irishman scored twice as Manchester United came from behind to achieve their first Premiership victory over Arsenal in four seasons, returning to the top of the table in the process.
So far Keane has refused to sign a new contract which would keep him at United for the rest of his career. Time is on his side. After next June he will be a free agent. In the meantime the club will have to decide whether they want to sell the player while they can still be sure of a transfer fee.
Yesterday, however, such a suggestion seemed bizarre as Keane not only produced a typical performance of strength, awareness and versatility in midfield but turned the game around after Arsenal appeared to have it under control. Keane's winning goal arrived in the 88th minute but Arsenal's frustration was not completed until stoppage time when they thought they had drawn level, only to have the equaliser disallowed by the referee Graham Poll.
Following Dennis Bergkamp's free-kick, Matthew Upson rose to head the ball down towards the net. Raimond Van Der Gouw, keeping goal for United in place of the injured Mark Bosnich, kept it out and had both hands on the ball as Martin Keown forced it out of his grasp and over the line. Van Der Gouw, laid low by Keown's knee, was replaced by United's third choice goalkeeper Nick Culkin for the seconds that remained.
Poll's decision was correct and Arsenal's 20-month unbeaten home league run was over. Well though they had played going forward, with the subtle touches of Bergkamp and Nwankwo Kanu a growing influence and the readiness of Fredrik Ljungberg to take on defenders always a threat, Arsene Wenger's team were eventually undone by defensive uncertainties which might have been avoided had Tony Adams been fit to add his authority to their back four.
The point was underlined by another outstanding exhibition of centre-back play by Jaap Stam for Manchester United, but in terms of the distant destination of this season's Premier League championship the result meant little. Last season United lost 3-0 at Highbury but went on to win the Treble.
Yet the encounter set awesome standards for those who would seek to prevent the title going to Old Trafford or Highbury. The absorbing mix of skill and commitment, calisthenics and physical confrontation, recalled the climactic contests between the Liverpool of Bill Shankly and Don Revie's Leeds United in the early 1970s, helped, it must be said, by refereeing more sympathetic to the game than the card-happy dictates of FIFA.
True, Poll cautioned four Manchester United players and one from Arsenal but in the first 65 minutes only Paul Scholes received a yellow card, following a late challenge from behind on Patrick Vieira, who might well have been sent off after head-butting Keane in the 84th minute before becoming involved in a snarl-up with Stam.
Poll had made his intentions clear as early as the fourth minute when Keane clattered into the back of Vieira without being booked. The game was dominated in the early stages by Manchester United's perceptive passing and movement, with the mobility of Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole threatening to disrupt Arsenal's defence.
On the quarter-hour Cole met a free-kick from David Beckham with a header against the bar, after 20 minutes Beckham's angled pass sent in Ryan Giggs but only to shoot wide.
Arsenal's first meaningful attempt was the shot on the turn by Kanu which Van Der Gouw tipped over the bar 11 minutes before half-time. Then in the 42nd minute Lee Dixon and Kanu found Bergkamp in space with Ljungberg haring through a gap to his right. The pass was perfectly weighted for the Swede to take it in his stride and beat Van Der Gouw.
The way the second half began, with Arsenal in full cry for a second goal, there seemed few ways for United to get back into the game. But in the 58th minute a first-time shot from Upson, meeting a nod-on from Kanu following Silvinho's corner, hit a post and after that the whole picture changed.
Two minutes later, with Arsenal's defence caught square, Keane accepted a return pass from Cole and slipped the ball past Alex Manninger. Arsenal gave Davor Suker his first airing but United had the initiative.
Nevertheless a draw was beckoning when Giggs dispossessed a casual Parlour and tried a shot which took a deflection off Keown and went straight to Keane, whose second goal settled everything.
Wenger is left with the task of restoring his players' morale after succumbing to United's late rally, especially as the Gunners still lost the title last season even after taking four points off their main rivals.
The Arsenal boss declared: "It's not only a psychological blow but a mathematical blow as well as we dropped points against one of the teams who will fight for the championship.
"How we respond is the most important thing now."
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Keown, Upson, Silvinho, Henry (Suker 77), Parlour, Vieira, Ljungberg, Kanu (Overmars 70), Bergkamp. Subs Not Used: Vivas, Grimandi, Lukic. Booked: Parlour. Goals: Ljungberg 41.
Manchester United: Van Der Gouw (Culkin 90), Neville, Berg, Stam, Irwin, Beckham, Keane, Scholes (Butt 61), Giggs, Yorke, Cole (Sheringham 77). Subs Not Used: Curtis, Solskjaer. Booked: Scholes, Berg, Beckham, Neville. Goals: Keane 58, 88.
Referee: G Poll (Tring).
