Manchester United could have been hammered by Liga de Quito and still enjoyed their return flight from Japan. The only result of the day that really mattered went their way, with Arsenal’s flickering title aspirations all but extinguished and Liverpool’s limitations exposed. Chelsea’s journey to the North West last night will also have been made in better spirits than Liverpool’s, because they can regain top place by beating Everton at Goodison Park this evening.

Liverpool will have taken some satisfaction from nudging farther ahead, but in the circumstances this was two points dropped. “When you play against ten men for 35 minutes and do not win the game you cannot be completely happy,” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said before going on to savage Howard Webb’s decision to dismiss Emmanuel Adebayor, with his first claim carrying significantly more weight. The Togo striker deserved to be sent off for raising his studs towards Álvaro Arbeloa.

Sammy Lee, deputising for the convalescing Rafael BenÍtez in body if not mind, claimed that the Liverpool manager was happy with the result, which, if true, reveals a great deal about how he intends to contest the title race. Liverpool, as a result of slip-ups elsewhere, have managed to maintain their lead despite drawing four of their past five matches, but such luck is unlikely to last.

As Wenger observed, Liverpool could ultimately pay the price for their manager’s lack of ambition. Utterly dominant against ten men for the final 27 minutes, with Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso overrunning Alexandre Song and Denilson after the departure of Cesc Fàbregas with a knee injury, the visiting team failed to make their advantage tell. Daniel Agger let fly with a left-foot shot three minutes before the end and Nabil El Zhar, a substitute, headed wide from a cross by Emiliano Insua, but otherwise Manuel Almunia was relatively untroubled.

Robbie Keane enjoyed one of his better days in scoring the equaliser with a devastating half-volley - his first goal for six weeks - although Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge is still troubling for the club. The absence of Fernando Torres, whose hamstring injury cannot heal fast enough for Liverpool, may be causing BenÍtez more pain than his kidney stones.

BenÍtez famously missed his father’s funeral to attend a football match, preferring to stay on for Liverpool’s Club World Cup final against São Paulo in Tokyo three years ago rather than travelling to Spain to be with his family, and was kept away yesterday only for fear of bringing about an unscheduled early meeting with his maker. The Spaniard was determined to defy medical advice and travel to London until late on Saturday night, when he was taken into hospital in severe pain.

Any notion of BenÍtez resting at home, however - watching a few videos of the Spanish fourth division or cataloguing his wife’s extensive watch collection - were soon shattered by the behaviour on the touch-line of Xavi Valero, a shaggy-haired former goalkeeper who ended his career at Wrexham and is now in charge of coaching the goalkeepers at Melwood, the Liverpool training ground. From the way his ear was pressed against his mobile phone, Valero was in touch with BenÍtez throughout, an impression confirmed when Keane was again substituted.

BenÍtez will not have enjoyed his assistant’s commentary for the majority of a disjointed first half, with Arsenal playing the better football and going close through a header by Adebayor before Robin van Persie opened the scoring in the 24th minute. The Holland striker showed exquisite balance to control Samir Nasri’s long ball on his chest, shifted it to the right of Jamie Carragher to create enough space for himself before unleashing a powerful shot beyond José Manuel Reina at the near post with his right foot. The finish on his weaker side with his so-called “chocolate leg” was certainly sweet.

At this stage Liverpool’s game plan of launching long balls over the top was getting them nowhere, but it brought unexpected reward just before half-time. Agger’s hopeful punt bisected William Gallas and Johan Djourou and bounced perfectly for Keane, whose fifth goal for the club was by far his best. Gerrard had a great opportunity to put Liverpool ahead two minutes later, but could only put Dirk Kuyt’s cross wide.

Wenger witnessed enough problems of his own to sound too smug, however, with Arsenal’s shortcomings shown up after Fàbregas limped off in the wake of a clash with Alonso. The Spain midfield player could be out for up to two months with ligament damage and his side will struggle without him.

Arsenal have the ability to achieve eye-catching results but, as with Liverpool, remain far too reliant on key performers. Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, is likely to enjoy a very merry Christmas.

Arsenal (4-4-2): M Almunia 6 - B Sagna 7, W Gallas 6, J Djourou 5, G Clichy 6 - Denilson 5, A Song 5, F Fàbregas 6, S Nasri 7 - E Adebayor 5, R van Persie 7. Substitutes: A Diaby 6 (for Fàbregas, 46min), E Eboué (for Nasri, 90). Not used: L Fabianski, C Vela, A Ramsey, M Silvestre, J Wilshere. Next: Aston Villa (a).

Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina 6 - Á Arbeloa 6, J Carragher 5, D Agger 6, E Insua 5 - Lucas Leiva 6, X Alonso 7 - D Kuyt 6, S Gerrard 6, A Riera 6 - R Keane 6. Substitutes: R Babel 5 (for Riera, 71min), N El Zhar (for Keane, 82), D Ngog (for Lucas, 87). Not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, Y Benayoun, D Plessis. Next: Bolton (h).

Attendance: 60,094 Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).