You know Manchester United's title defence is going well when they descend upon London, earn a deserved draw with high-flying Arsenal and then complain as if they have somehow been short-changed. All that happened was that at the end of a frantic last quarter, Arsenal scored an equaliser that was both dramatic and deserved.

That goal kept Arsenal on top but only on goal difference and even if they have a game in hand, they've got United right alongside and an ever-improving Chelsea just behind. Though they were outpassed for long periods of yesterday's match at the Emirates Stadium, United were not outplayed and would have won if only their defence had played with the authority they had consistently shown in earlier matches this season.

Perhaps it was disappointment with some ordinary defending that tempted Sir Alex Ferguson to find lots of fault with aspects of the game. He believed referee Howard Webb wasn't always fair. "At times, he favoured Arsenal," said United's manager, which tends to be a complaint one hears at Old Trafford, though it is always the visiting manager who feels that.

Ferguson was also unhappy about the abuse he and his staff had to endure during the match. Seated behind the United dug-out were some passionate Arsenal supporters who were not slow to express their point of view. "There is a lack of security here," he said. "On our bench we were getting terrible abuse from people two or three feet away."

Perhaps the discomfort will help the United manager to better empathise with Alan Wiley, the fourth official who spent much of his afternoon being abused by "people two or three feet away." The worst of the abuse suffered by Wiley came from Fergie himself. More than that, some of the abuse directed at Sir Alex was as a direct result of the abuse he directed at poor Mr. Wiley.

It was impressive though that as he closes in on 21 years of extraordinary success at Old Trafford, Ferguson still retains his capacity to see everything from United's point of view. He noticed the foul on Louis Saha that Howard Webb missed - had it been detected, Arsenal wouldn't have got their second goal.

Even that goal, said Ferguson, came from "pumping the ball" into the box. Ah, Sir Alex. Take another look. Watch how Gael Clichy won possession right out alongside you near half, ran past a United defender, steadied himself and played the most delightful cross that caused absolute mayhem in your team's defence. I bet when he's at home this evening and re-watching that goal, he will be smiling to himself, "oh, that was a good ball."

Despite the abuse suffered by the United manager and the fourth official, we did have our lighter moment at the Emirates. Someone asked Arsene Wenger if he thought Gallas's late equaliser had crossed the line, before it was beaten out by Edwin van der Sar, and then ruled a goal by the assistant referee, Darren Cann. "I didn't see it," said Wenger. Shamelessly, we had always thought that Arsene suffered temporary blindness only when an Arsenal player did something wrong. How mistaken we were.