After Arsenal had slipped below second place for the first time in three months some of their supporters booed Arsene Wenger's players off the field. Chelsea fans, however, have long since learned to appreciate the vagaries of performance which make the difference between a cheer and a jeer.

In the four months since Claudio Ranieri took over from Gianluca Vialli Chelsea have maintained a metronomic habit of form. For much of the time this has amounted to nothing more complex than winning at home and losing away but on Saturday Ranieri's side managed to encapsulate the manic nature of their season within 90 minutes.

In fact so well did Chelsea perform after coming in at half-time 1-0 down there was every reason to believe not only were they about to achieve their first away league win of the season, but they would also defeat Arsenal for the first time in 11 Premiership encounters.

Had David Seaman, back after injury, not managed to grab a shot from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink before it crossed the goalline, or Sam Dalla Bona not dragged a clear chance wide, Chelsea might well have won. From the moment, in the third minute, that Robert Pires swung easily inside Dennis Wise and Dalla Bona before directing a precise shot into the far corner of the net it was obvious that on their right flank Chelsea's cover amounted to little more than a bead curtain. Not only that, a system which exposed Frank Leboeuf to the pace of Thierry Henry, restricted the opportunities of Marcel Desailly to move forward from the back, relegated the influence of Wise and left Hasselbaink up front with scant support suggested an approach by their coach bordering on the fatalistic.

Ranieri switched to 4-4-2 for the second half with Albert Ferrer on at right back, Wise returning to central midfield and Eidur Gudjohnsen joining Hasselbaink in attack. For Chelsea football become a joy again and after John Terry had headed them level, reacting quickly after Seaman had pawed at a corner from Wise, they looked the more likely winners.

Yet that by half-time they were still in the contest was largely down to the Italian goalkeeping of Carlo Cudicini whose saves from Henry and Fredrik Ljungberg (twice) had Wenger bemoaning another failure to kill a game off.

ARSENAL: Seaman, Dixon, Stepanovs, Keown, Silvinho, Pires, Vieira, Ljungberg (Vivas 87), Parlour, Wiltord, Henry. Subs Not Used: Manninger, Malz, Cole, Pennant. Booked: Dixon. Goal: Pires 3.

CHELSEA: Cudicini, Leboeuf (Ferrer 46), Desailly, Harley, Terry, Poyet, Wise, Dalla Bona, Jokanovic (Gronkjaer 46), Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen (Zola 77). Subs Not Used: de Goey, Le Saux. Booked: Dalla Bona, Harley, Desailly. Goal: Terry 62.

Referee: D Elleray (Harrow-on-the-Hill).