AS THE dust settled on another stormy chapter in this bitter saga, there were no reports, thankfully, of any soup being hurled in the corridors at Highbury, but another can of worms was certainly opened. Arsenal can be written out of the title saga after a match that displayed much that was good about this rivalry and all that was bad.

If Brian Barwick, the new chief executive of the FA, is serious about what he said on the subject of ridding the game of what he calls “cheating”, he will want to study the tape. Manchester United will feel mightily pleased after producing a memorable comeback, thanks to a brace of goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, but any efforts to claim the moral high ground were flawed, given that they were just as culpable in a match that involved play-acting, referee-baiting and head- butting.

Mikäel Silvestre was sent off for putting his forehead in Fredrik Ljungberg’s face after 68 minutes, six others were booked and, after the Battle of the Buffet last October, there was even a pre-match bunfight in the tunnel.

Roy Keane blamed Patrick Vieira for picking on Gary Neville — “an easy target” — but the appearance of the captains alongside each other always had the makings of an identity parade rather than a midfield tussle. And so they descended into a maelstrom of machismo, f-words and jabbed fingers, a puerile example that others were only too happy to follow.

Ultimately, the contest was consumed by its own hype, yet somewhere inside this ugly beast of a game there was a beautiful one trying to break out. There were moments of lustrous quality to go with those tackling like rusty scythes.

In the end, Sir Alex Ferguson’s mischievously timed comment about United and Chelsea being the two best teams in the country looked valid. Having morphed from untouchables to a mess of touchy foibles, it remains to be seen what further psychological blows another defeat by their sworn enemies induces in Arsenal.

“We are a strong team, but mentally we are disappointed with the way we played,” Vieira said. “We have to regroup. We have objectives and we have to try to achieve them.”

Ferguson said that Arsenal have no chance of retaining their title and Wenger said that Chelsea will be crowned as their successors if they beat Blackburn Rovers tonight. “We weren’t solid defensively and we concede too many goals to play for the championship,” Wenger said.

Nobody emerged blameless from the detritus — the managers who had lit the touchpaper, Ljungberg and Lauren for making a drama out of the faintest touches from Gabriel Heinze and Ryan Giggs for a tackle on Ashley Cole that was so late that it had its origins in the October affair.

Cole dived in the vicinity of Keane, but Graham Poll was not awarding penalties for osmosis and the whole thing might have degenerated into an eyesore had Arsenal not scored after just eight minutes. Thierry Henry’s whipped corner was met by Vieira and he glanced a header beyond Roy Carroll.

The lead was short-lived. Paul Scholes seized on some ponderous Arsenal defending to flight a deft pass to Wayne Rooney, his layoff was delicious and Giggs’s shot was deflected off a rabid Cole and beyond Manuel Almunia.

When the players refrained from prolonging their petty vendettas, the game had moments of lilting brilliance. Nothing was better than Arsenal’s second goal, with Vieira the catalyst. Mathieu Flamini dummied his precise pass down the middle, enabling Henry to seize control and play the perfectly timed and weighted pass into Dennis Bergkamp’s path. He slotted his shot through Carroll’s legs, Arsenal rejoiced and then the game reverted to tripe. Rooney became the fourth man booked and Poll showed enormous leniency in allowing him to stay on when the England forward reacted with a torrent of foul-mouthed abuse.

Vieira then feigned injury after Rooney had pulled a stray foot out of his way and one was left to marvel at the mixture of class and gamesmanship.

Apathetic defending made it a good night for the creators as well as the destroyers and, for every player sinning, there was another reminding us of his abilities. Giggs was one such figure and, twice in four minutes, he capitalised on the fraying nerves in Arsenal’s defence, a malaise with its roots in Almunia’s lack of authority.

First Giggs’s killer pass found Ronaldo on the left and he finished with panache, then he embarrassed Almunia, who had strayed needlessly to the corner of his box, rounding the stranded goalkeeper and chipping a gilt-edged present to the far post. Ronaldo scored from three feet. “It was not only the goalkeeper,” Wenger said. “I think the third goal was a killer and we never recovered from it.” John O’Shea chipped a lovely fourth as Arsenal sought an equaliser to cap a bleak night for the home side.

Ferguson lauded his team’s determination and although chances came and went at both ends, Silvestre denying Henry with a timely challenge and Rooney crashing a neatly worked free kick against the bar, United edged it.