Arsenal had Emmanuel Eboue sent off after 36
minutes, but still held on to draw 0-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Sunday, dpa reported.
Spurs have not beaten their North London rivals in a league game since 1999,
and it is a long time since they had a better chance.
Arsenal remain fifth, five points behind Chelsea, but having also lost Emmanuel
Adebayor to injury before half-time, they will probably feel this represents a
valuable point.
Spurs lie 15th, only two points above Blackburn Rovers in the relegation zone -
and Blackburn have a game in hand.
Tottenham's excellent Luka Modric, now seemingly adjusted to the pace of the
Premier League, had the best chance of a breezy first half, forcing Manuel
Almunia into a diving save low to his right after turning Alexandre Song.
Aaron Lennon was frequently dangerous on the Tottenham right although, not for
the first time in his career, the end product rarely lived up to the build-up.
Arsenal, though, also had their opportunities, low crosses fizzing across the
six-yard box three times without getting the vital touch.
But the away side's hopes of victory suffered two major blows in the space of
two minutes.
First striker Adebayor pulled up on 34 minutes with what appeared to be a
hamstring injury, and then, before he had been replaced, Eboue was sent off.
Already cautioned for dissent, the Ivory Coast international collected a second
yellow for an off-the-ball trip on Modric.
The second half was a story of Tottenham domination without penetration.
Roman Pavlyuchenko fired wide form a good position, and Robbie Keane, in his
first game since returning to Tottenham from Liverpool, put a header just over.
But for the home side's their possession, the best chance of the half arguably
fell to Song, who jabbed just wide after a right-wing corner reached him eight
yards out.
Nicklas Bendtner had a late effort tipped over by Spurs keeper Carlo Cudicini,
and Modric was then denied by the feet of Almunia, but the breakthrough never
came.
Arsenal also lost Gael Clichy to a head injury late-on. He clashed heads with
Darren Bent and was led from the field with blood gushing from a scalp wound.