Arsenal go top but chaos still reigns

There is mounting evidence that control of the Premiership has been handed to a team of scriptwriters from Brookside. Not content with the most gripping title race in years, someone seems determined to inject large doses of anger, injustice and controversy.

How else can one explain the fact that "clampdown", "incensed", "disrepute" and "overturn" are in danger of replacing "skill", "organised", "stunning" and "volley" as the most used words in football, an impression only enhanced by the weekend's shenanigans.

Arsenal are no saints, having picked up eight red cards and 48 yellows this season. There is also the threat of suspension to Thierry Henry for confronting the referee after the Newcastle defeat and to Patrick Vieira for allegedly elbowing Chelsea's Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the face.

But on Saturday evening even Arsenal should have been able to put their feet up and celebrate their New Year role as Premiership leaders thanks to two goals that emphasised their class. Instead, they found themselves involved in another disciplinary mud-fight.

First Middlesbrough's Noel Whelan plumbed new depths with his accusation that the referee, Andy D'Urso, must have been "pissed" not to give a foul in the build-up to Arsenal's equaliser. Then a Sunday newspaper accused Martin Keown of head-butting Middlesbrough's Hamilton Ricard, an incident the referee missed in a game which featured seven yellow cards.

Whelan will almost certainly face an FA disrepute charge for his outburst, which in full went: "The referee must have been pissed. It was a massive mistake."

Keown will feel on safer ground - unless the FA have access to different TV angles than those which seem to show Ricard simply backing into the Arsenal defender then extravagantly falling down clutching his head.

The most worrying facet is that both accusations are symptoms of the current finger-pointing climate. It has escalated since the authorities decided to "professionalise" referees with a weekly diet of clampdown edicts and demotion threats. The inevitable errors made in this climate of fear, the resulting cries of injustice and the regular overturning of red cards has undermined the standing of match officials to a point where they are becoming laughing stocks. It is a recipe for chaos.

So one can understand Middlesbrough's frustration - if not the way it was manifested. They came to Highbury on the back of three defeats, having scored just one goal in their previous six games, and without their leading scorer, Alen Boksic, who allegedly was ill. Then they take the lead.

On 21 minutes Sol Campbell mis-hit a backpass to let in Whelan who nimbly proved his feet should do more of the talking. It was the fifth time this season that Arsenal have gone a goal down at home.

But after pressing hard, they equalised on 55 minutes. The controversy centred on Thierry Henry, who barged into Paul Ince as he was falling away from a challenge but with a momentum that looked suspiciously home-made. With Ince on the ground, Robert Pires was left to score with a swerving, 20-yard volley and Ince was booked for protesting.

The winner came 11 minutes from time when Arsenal realised they had to get behind the Gareth Southgate-inspired defence to break it down. Dennis Bergkamp's sublime crossfield pass found Ashley Cole's run behind the full back and the England defender headed home.

Arsene Wenger said: "It was super-class by Dennis and whether I ask him to start a match or come on as a substitute it doesn't change my opinion that he's world-class."

ARSENAL: Taylor, Luzhny, Keown, Campbell, Cole, Pires, Vieira, van Bronckhorst, Ljungberg (Wiltord 70), Henry (Grimandi 82), Kanu (Bergkamp 70). Subs Not Used: Upson, Wright. Booked: Kanu, Cole, Pires. Goals: Pires 55, Cole 80.

MIDDLESBROUGH: Crossley, Stockdale, Southgate, Ehiogu (Cooper 59), Queudrue, Marinelli (Johnston 69), Ince, Mustoe, Greening, Whelan (Campbell 76), Ricard. Subs Not Used: Nemeth, Beresford. Booked: Greening, Ricard, Queudrue. Goals: Whelan 22.

Referee: A D'Urso (Billericay).