Arsenal and Leeds played out a 1-1 draw at Elland Road this afternoon in a comparatively tame affair to the previous seven fixtures which produced 48 yellow and four red cards. Robert Pires scored his eighth goal of the season for Arsenal on the stroke of half-time to cancel out Robbie Fowler's seventh in his last seven matches.
The old rivalries between Mark Viduka and Martin Keown came back in the 30th minute when the Australian floored Keown with an elbow. Back in May, the Arsenal centre-back had faced a trial by video after elbowing Viduka off the ball, escaping with a one-game suspension and £10,000 fine. The players generally heeded Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor's plea for calm, and the draw was probably the most deserved outcome.
Earlier today, Chelsea crushed their London rivals 5-1 as West Ham’s Paolo Di Canio was sent off after a moment of madness in the Premiership today. The Italian stamped on Chelsea substitute Jody Morris in the 70th-minute and was shown a straight red card by referee Andy D'Urso.
West Ham were out of the Stamford Bridge contest by that stage after two goals from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and one from Eidur Gudjohnsen. Gudjohnsen grabbed his second in the 87th-minute and Mikael Forssell made it five late on as Chelsea, sixth in the table, stayed in touch with the title challengers.
Chelsea have 37 points, three behind fifth-placed Liverpool and eight behind leaders Manchester United. Substitute Jermain Defoe scored West Ham's consolation two minutes from time, but their poor defensive performance leaves them 12th.
The two sides also meet in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
