Graphic: Bill Edgar's tactical analysis

There will be those who maintain that Arsenal stayed top of the Barclays Premier League yesterday courtesy only of the fingertips of Manuel Almunia, their goalkeeper, but it was not the extremities that allowed them to pass their biggest test of the season so far. It was something deep inside.

Heart, the most old-fashioned virtue of champions, kept them in command after Manchester United’s earlier victory over Liverpool. Almunia made a stunning save from Andriy Shevchenko in second-half injury time that may grow in significance as the season unfolds, but the three points claimed here were the bounty of qualities it is suggested this team do not possess.

There will be other days when Arsenal dazzle and surprise, when they push the parameters of what is possible on the pitch and leave the crowd open-mouthed in amazement. This was an afternoon when the pace-setters had to draw on reserves of sheer determination and guts, respond to the angry roar of local rivalry, stand up to the physical challenge presented by an uncompromising Chelsea side and return fire with force of their own.

This they did. They matched Chelsea blow for blow and almost booking for booking (nine yellow cards were issued by Alan Wiley and spread pretty evenly). Emmanuel Eboué kicked John Terry out of the game before Joe Cole avenged his team-mate by doing the same to Eboué. Even Arsenal’s winner, scored by William Gallas, the Arsenal captain and former Chelsea defender, had something of the bar-room brawl about it, with the way Gallas manhandled Tal Ben-Haim out of the way before heading Cesc Fàbregas’s corner past Petr Cech, who had come for the ball but failed to get it, a rare error for him.

Gallas arrived from Stamford Bridge as part of the transfer that took Ashley Cole to Chelsea, but it looks as if, not for the first time, Arsène Wenger has got the better of the business. No disrespect to Cole yesterday, he played well in the face of a bear-pit atmosphere and incessant provocation, but he is yet to hit the heights in a blue shirt that were taken for granted in Arsenal red.

Gallas, by contrast, is flourishing at his new home, where he has won the armband and a place at the centre of defence, his favoured position. Now over his early-season injuries, he is hitting his stride and this was his third league goal of the season — his first of the campaign being the last-minute equaliser against Manchester United. It is hard to imagine two games in which the points won have been more important.

If Fabio Capello, the new England manager, was watching, it would probably have been with mounting alarm. There were only five Englishmen of the 28 on the pitch — and all were in Chelsea’s ranks — yet somehow the singular demands of Premier League football turn every nationality into a bulldog Brit. This was as far removed from the slow-quick-slow of continental football as a back-alley mugging is from a gentleman’s challenge of pistols at dawn. There was little of nobility or order here. From the moment Emmanuel Adebayor took Ashley Cole out at knee height — a tackle more reckless than malicious, it must be said — to the chaotic conclusion in which Ashley Cole cuffed Fàbregas after an ugly late challenge by the Spaniard and Wiley booked the Arsenal man before blowing his whistle without restarting the match, it was a scrap, not a duel.

Some of the challenges were exuberant, others plain nasty. Eboué was lucky to stay on the pitch for going in high on Terry, so was Joe Cole for his act of retribution in the second half. The England captain has injured ankle ligaments and there is as yet no news of when he will return. Welcome to our world, Signor Capello. You had better get used to days like this.

English football will never change because English people love the passion of it all too much. Even those brought up on the cultured passing of Arsenal under Wenger were excited by this spectacle. The players were, too. The greatest footballers are not always the fancy dans but those who can play the game any way the situation demands. If the opposition wants a meeting of talents, they are the most beautiful passers, the swiftest thinkers, the most extravagant dribblers. If a tear-up in the car park is required, they are the dirtiest fighters, the ugliest brawlers, the first to slip on the knuckle-dusters or throw one on the blind side. And, most importantly, the greatest footballers are ready to play it either way. That was Arsenal yesterday.

Their lack of compromise inspired their followers, too, and suddenly a ground that can be quiet and introverted was raucous and partisan, fired up by Ashley Cole’s return, the ferocity of the action and the prospect of surrendering the lead at the top to United. Having blazed a trail for much of the season, Arsenal were actually two points behind when the game started.

Ahead through Gallas after 45 minutes, Arsenal had to defend resolutely for much of the second half. Almunia made a meal of a shot by John Obi Mikel, but recovered to keep out the follow up from Shevchenko and Shaun Wright-Phillips squandered an outstanding chance after 75 minutes. Arsenal were always dangerous on the break and Cech returned to his best to keep out Robin van Persie and then Fàbregas late in the game.

When Howard Webb, the fourth official, signalled five minutes’ injury time, a ripple of concern went around the ground and, moments later, Chelsea were awarded a free kick 25 yards out, in shooting range. Shevchenko struck it with venom, but Almunia was equal to the task, flipping the ball over the bar. The single-point difference at the top does not look much, but the way Arsenal fought to keep it suggests they are in for the long haul this season, no matter how tough the terrain.

Arsenal (4-4-1-1) M Almunia 7 B Sagna 7 K Touré 7 W Gallas 7 G Clichy 7 E Eboué Y 7 M Flamini Y 7 F Fàbregas Y 7 T Rosicky 7 A Hleb 7 E Adebayor Y 8 Substitutes: R van Persie 7 (for Eboué, 69min), Gilberto Silva (for Hleb, 77), N Bendtner (for Adebayor, 90) Not used: J Lehmann, P Senderos Next: Tottenham (h)

Chelsea (4-1-4-1) P Cech 6 P Ferreira 6 Alex 5 J Terry Y 7 A Cole 7 C Makelele 6 S Wright-Phillips 6 J O Mikel Y 7 F Lampard Y 5 J Cole Y 7 A Shevchenko 6 Substitutes: T Ben-Haim Y 5 (for Terry, 39), C Pizarro 4 (for Makelele, 65), S Kalou (for Wright-Phillips, 75) Not used: C Cudicini, J Belletti Next: Blackburn (a)

Referee A Wiley
Attendance 60,319