Arsenal share the points with Chelsea in London derby cracker.

Arsenal share the points with Chelsea in London derby cracker.

The New Year may be only a couple of days old but already the signs are that it could be one heck of a year. Manchester City may be racing away with the Premier League at the top but the challengers for top four status are rolling up their sleeves and competing with every sinew in their body. This is the time when thoughts turn to the romance of the FA Cup, the fond liaisons with the third round of the Cup and the meeting between the part timers and the rich footballing executives of the Premier League.

 It is a meeting between the polar opposites, the milkmen and the factory workers against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs. Put simply the FA Cup has come around again. We have here a case of classic contrasts. And yet last night at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal met Chelsea in what amounts to a dress rehearsal for another great English tradition- dare I say it- the Carabao Cup or the League Cup, the idea of that archly conservative FA secretary Alan Hardaker whose brainchild the League Cup was.

Next week Arsenal will meet their London neighbours Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi final at Stamford Bridge. But on a wintry evening at the Emirates Stadium Arsenal did their utmost to settle some old scores with their equally as formidable London rivals. These two clubs are like neighbours who tolerate each other's existence but love a good natter over the garden fence. The trouble is that although Arsenal willingly lend Chelsea their lawn mover every so often there are times when they forget the shears so they storm their way back into the tunnel with a heavy grudge.

Recent encounters between Arsene Wenger and now Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, formerly of the Chelsea parish, have been nothing short of unsightly. Wenger and Mourinho were, let us say, not on each other's Christmas list and would have quite happily ignored each other in the street. They were not the best of allies and the touch line bust ups and glowering stares are part of the Premier League 's fascinating storyline. Wenger had no time at all for Mourinho and the feeling was mutual.

When Arsenal met Chelsea on a wind swept and rainy Emirates Stadium night we had a private inkling that something sensational was about to happen. And it did. This was a fantastically pulsating, gripping and intriguing London derby full of the rich spices and silks we've come to expect from Arsenal in recent matches. It was a mind blowing, breathless, wonderfully absorbing and gloriously entertaining London derby and it did seem a shame that it had to end.

At the end of the 2-2 draw neither Arsenal or Chelsea could draw any comfort at all from the game except that it did satisfy the neutrals and the impartial. Over the Christmas holiday Arsenal finally wore down Crystal Palace in a narrow win at Selhurst Park, scraped out a disappointing 1-1 draw at West Brom and then battled back gamely against Liverpool at the Emirates in quite the most remarkable fashion. The game finished 3-3 but such was its ever present sense of drama and theatricality that it could quite easily have ended up as a rugby league score.

For Arsenal though it was good to see the welcome return of Jack Wilshere in an Arsenal shirt. Wilshere, whose career has now been unfortunately riddled with long term injuries, finally showed the kind of form which may well see him ultimately propelled into  Gareth Southgate's England squad in this year's World Cup in Russia. Wilshere is no Cossack but he does like to dance through opposition's defences.

Wilshere's career has been full of pit stops and frequent tyre changes and the mechanical faults have often disrupted his development as a player. It almost seems as if Wilshere hasn't been sure whether he's coming or going at times and with the likes of Southampton and West Ham still interested in him should he decide to leave Arsenal, the stage was set for a Wilshere hell bent on stating his case for Arsenal once again.

Once again- as we always he knew he would- Wilshere demonstrated that beautifully balanced posture and poise on the ball that only the best of midfield players are capable of producing. He had a natural grace and an air of authority about him, a controlling influence in the middle of the pitch that Chelsea had nothing to counter it. He glided, dribbled easily with the ball and looked totally unflappable. There were often moments during the game when Wilshere seemed to drift dreamily into spaces he had no right to find. Wilshere was at the heart of everything that Arsenal did; probing, prompting, floating and fluttering like the most colourful of butterflies, a jinking, shimmying, fleet footed midfield player with all the endowments of an international player.

Alongside Granit Xhaka and the ever inventive Mesut Ozil in Arsenal's very thoughtful midfield, Wilshere was here there and everywhere. Arsenal of course were once again at their most flamboyant and impulsive. Frequently, Arsenal have been accused of trying to walk the ball into the net rather than delivering that final ball that culminates in a shed load of goals in the opposition net. Of course Arsenal do verge on the over elaborate but as all the great artists are wont to do, those final neat touches and embellishments make the end product all the more satisfying.

At the back of Arsenal's rigid and well structured defence Rob Holding, Calum Chambers, Hector Bellerin and the constantly exasperated Shkodran Mustafi, provided a firm backbone from which Ozil was able to weave his magic, sorcery and chicanery while Wilshere just blossomed. There were the customary angles and intricate patterns that have more or less characterised Arsenal's football for more than a decade now. The passes went one way and then the other rather like the most perfect pendulum, swaying in the North London wind and flowing across the centre of the pitch with a momentum all of their own.

Now that the transfer window is open us it'll be interesting to see where exactly Arsenal's moping maverick Alexis Sanchez finds himself at the end of January. At the moment he still looks like one of those pompous repertory actors who just can't find that definitive role in a meaty West End play. He stares wide eyed in astonishment when somebody tells him that he'll never make the big time. For years Arsenal have been able to boast role models rather than mischief makers. Sanchez is quite clearly distracted by speculation and gossip about his future. He may be attracted by greener pastures but for now he looks like that little boy lost whose ball may never be returned.

On more than one occasions Sanchez was truly exceptional, a player of unrivalled class and stature, rolling his whole body around in dangerous areas, darting around players as if they were truly invisible and then running forcefully at Chelsea as if destiny was calling. At times the Chelsea defence were almost panting for breath as Sanchez zig zagged in and out of Chelsea's rugged England international Gary Cahill and turned Marcos Alonso inside out like a well worn blue cardigan.

Sanchez fell helplessly into Chelsea's defensive pockets and once Eden Hazard, a superlative all round footballer, revved up Chelsea's slightly heavy legged midfield, Chelsea began to ease their way back into this match. Hazard, of course, remains one of those consistently polished performers who seems to improve with every match. Once again Hazard was slippery, elusive, fast and utterly brilliant, scuttling and scurrying forward as if determined to catch the bus. Hazard peels back the multi layers of tangled opposition defences, before once again exposing the soft underbelly of an occasionally wonky and wobby Arsenal defence.

After a goal- less first half both Arsenal and Chelsea flew out of the starting blocks as if the first half had been a dress rehearsal for the second. Within minutes of the second half Arsenal thought they'd picked the lock of the blue Chelsea defence. In one sweeping movement across the outside of Chelsea's well guarded penalty area Arsenal moved the Chelsea blue cordon rather like pieces on a chessboard. It reminded you of a car's windscreen wiper, as Chelsea were pulled in a series of different directions. Then Jack Wilshere latched onto the final ball and thumped the ball into the net off Chelsea's goalkeeper Courtois. It was a goal that breathed quality of the highest order.

It was now that Chelsea awoke from their New Year slumber. They wiped their eyes and splashed cold water over them, decisively hitting back at Arsenal. Within  minutes Chelsea were on level terms. After some dazzling footwork from Hazard, the ball seemed to obey Hazard's orders. Then in a tangle of feet, Hazard was nibbled and then allegedly sent sprawling to the ground in agony. For the second time in two days Arsenal were penalised and a debatable penalty was comfortably stroked past Arsenal keeper Petr Cech. London derbies do not come any better than this.

Chelsea were now revived and revitalised and Antonio Conte, a vision in black clothing, began to look like an Italian opera singer barely able to hold back his enthusiasm. Chelsea began to attack in swarms sensing that the bees were responsible for some of the sweetest honey. Willian, the Chelsea sub who had come on to add just a hint of Brazilian magic, sent the ball deftly out to Davide Zappacosta and the full back swiftly turned his defender before whipping the ball into the six yard box where Marcos Alonso racing in, clipped the ball past Arsenal keeper Cech from close range.

But there had to be a melodramatic twist to this tale. The game, or so Arsenal felt, was far from up. With minutes to go Arsenal released their battalions, still gathering around the Chelsea penalty area and then queuing up for grandstanding deliveries. Suddenly and inevitably Chelsea were under siege. The attacks came thick and fast. With the game deep into its last seconds another Arsenal cluster of passes, once again heavily involving Wilshere, blew into the Chelsea area like the proverbial gust of wind and Hector Bellerin, who'd enjoyed one of his more reliable games for Arsenal, took careful aim and with minimum back lift, drove the ball sweetly in for Arsenal's second equaliser. Honours even in the North versus West London derby. But then maybe that's the way it should always be.

Some of the nostalgic among us began to wonder how previous generations would have responded to the class of 2018. An image of Peter Osgood in a blue Chelsea shirt  and Charlie George in a red shirt comes vividly to mind What about Charlie Cooke and Ian Hutchinson squaring up to Peter Storey, George Graham and Eddie Kelly in all their splendid footballing finery. It all seems too many decades have passed but for those who have seen quite a few Chelsea and Arsenal pistols at dawn conflicts  this was one of the most hugely enjoyable we'd seen for quite some time. Be ready for another London derby. Spurs and West Ham- your audience await tonight at Wembley.