Not as big a surprise as some will be making out. I had this one down as a draw even before the injuries and Champions League situation lead to an under-strength Arsenal line-up. Rovers have been doing very well lately, and Arsenal were weak and knackered.

As expected, Seaman Campbell and Vieira all sat it out with injuries. Cygan played alongside Keown and did not have a good game. All the more worrying given that Keown went off injured after 20 minutes and is out for 3 weeks. That's bad news for Wednesday's all-important "must draw" match in Spain, given that Campbell is rated as having a 1 in 5 chance of making it. Seaman's odds are similar (but Vieira is said to be 50-50).

The opener on 22 minutes was a bit of a mess. Parlour was dispossessed by Flitcroft, and Gillespie drilled in a cross for Duff. He miskicked and we should have cleared, but instead it fell to Tugay whose thrash at the ball ricocheted off a teammate and fell to Duff (still completely unmarked) who scored.

The second came soon after the break when Tugay took advantage of Cygan's dithering and drilled the ball wide of Taylor's dive.

Friedel made great saves from Henry and van Bronckhorst free-kicks at 0-0. Later on Taylor matched him, saving Duff's volley. Pires had a good shot saved too, and then missed an easy close-range header.

Man Utd's 1-0 win at Villa Park earlier in the day means that our lead is cut to 2 points (see table and title run-in calculator). But the real damage done here today is the continued decimation of our defence (which has always lacked cover), and the possible hurt to the team's confidence. The way the squad respond in the next week's crucial cup games is crucial. Gilberto came off the bench as a makeshift defender when Keown limped off (Edu having started in his place in midfield), but we could see Stepanovs partnering Cygan at Stamford Bridge and the Mestalla.

Credit is due to Blackburn, who became the first team to complete a league double over Arsenal since Liverpool 3 years ago.