MARTIN KEOWN will avoid any repercussions from Uefa after his clash with Francesco Totti on Tuesday night. The Arsenal defender was called “a fantastic actor” by Fabio Capello, the AS Roma coach, but European football’s governing body will not overrule the referee who saw the incident clearly enough to spot that there was intent by Totti even if impact was minimal.

Totti’s red card has been endorsed by Uefa, whose disciplinary panel will intervene only if they feel the Italy striker deserves a different punishment to a one-match suspension, and Keown will be charged only if there is evidence of provocation before the 22nd-minute incident.

Given that Totti seemed just as intent on trying to irritate Keown as vice versa, it appears that the Arsenal man can claim victory from the duel although his reputation has been scarred.

Only Keown can know if Totti’s outstretched hand caused any pain, but the accusation that he feigned injury has hurt a defender who prides himself on his physical robustness. “If Mr Capello knows anything about Martin Keown, he would know he is not a cheat,” he said yesterday, after waking to unfavourable headlines. “I saw it coming. I tried to avoid it and he caught me in the eye. That is why I went down.”

Keown was not the only Arsenal figure forced on to the defensive after familiar scenes at Highbury when domination was not measured in goals or points. Arsenal have won only one of their past eight Champions League matches — in Rome — and their 1-1 draw against the Italian club was their fourth in a row.

Arsène Wenger is perplexed at his side’s failure, but he is not about to change an elaborate style that has made his team the best in England. “That is our game,” he said. “We like to have the ball on the ground and pass it quickly around the box.” The Arsenal manager said that the difference between a 4-0 win on Tuesday and a 1-1 draw could be measured “in inches” and it is too late in any case to start reconsidering his expansive approach.

The return of Sol Campbell (possibly this weekend) and Ashley Cole (not for several weeks) will shore up a defence that creaked as Pascal Cygan and Giovanni van Bronckhorst came under pressure, but otherwise Wenger will keep faith with a side that is still chasing the treble.

That task has been further complicated by the need to secure a point in Valencia next week and there are ramifications for the Premiership and FA Cup. If the trip to Spain had been without danger, Arsenal would have moved their game against Everton forward to Saturday March 22, from the Sunday, to avoid fixture congestion.

Instead, they will now have only 48 hours from the Everton game until the FA Cup quarter-final replay away to Chelsea.