The Independent on Sunday:
Sir Alex Ferguson had said that anyone who had a ticket for this meeting of the Premier League's two leading teams would be "rubbing their hands". As the sides left the Emirates pitch, more than 60,000 observers were banging those hands together in grateful appreciation after a second period that belatedly became something of the game we had been promised and produced a just outcome in a thrilling climax.
Few matches could have borne the weight of expectation with which this one was lumbered, and by half-time it was sagging under the burden. Even then, however, there was the twist of a Manchester United goal just before the interval, to be followed by an equaliser almost immediately after the interval.
From that point, the play flew from end to end, the visitors grabbing the lead with nine minutes remaining before, in added time, an alert referee's assistant spotted that William Gallas's shot had crossed the line before being pawed out by Edwin van der Sar.
The consequences for the title race had he not done so might have been immense. As it was, relieved Arsenal supporters were able to serenade their team with "We are top of the League", understandably not bothering to add "though only on goals scored and after playing seven of our 11 games at home".
In truth, the young pretenders only reached the standards of most previous games this season in limited patches, with Arsène Wenger significantly stressing "character" and "determination".
There were still some admirable individual performances. If Cesc Fabregas often struggled to escape the attentions of Owen Hargreaves, Alexander Hleb maintained his astonishing improvement from the lightweight of his early days at the club, and Mathieu Flamini was again a fine foil to both of them. Gaël Clichy and Bacary Sagna, who made a goal each, were aggressively positive full-backs despite having Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs to look after as their principal jobs.
The Observer:
For once here was enough spectacle to meet the pre-match hype and convince the millions watching around the world that the Premier League may just have the best footballers who can play the very best stuff.
Although the quality was not always consistent, this was a contest that could hardly be ignored, and ended with the right question still unanswered. Even before William Gallas's injury-time equaliser - squeezed coolly in from an angle and awarded by a sharp-eyed assistant referee - there had been enough from Arsene Wenger's team to keep the pundits, pubs and players wondering just how this season's title race will end.
Now, having drawn away at Liverpool last Sunday and snatched this point, there is little doubt that Arsenal have a realistic chance of challenging for United's title.
And it was notable that when Howard Webb blew just a minute after the skipper's strike, he and Cesc Fabregas led the formation of a huddle that showed how seriously they intend to continue business until the end of the campaign.
'We had to fight,' Gallas said after the game. 'We said if we had to die we would die together on that field. In the first half we tried to play football, but it was not really easy. We played very tight. It was difficult for us to find good space.'
A slightly muted Cristiano Ronaldo, who hit the post early on, had appeared to grab the glory and three points eight minutes from time with a goal that came from the kind of free-flowing move that had come intermittently throughout.
The Sunday Times:
You know Manchester United's title defence is going well when they descend upon London, earn a deserved draw with high-flying Arsenal and then complain as if they have somehow been short-changed. All that happened was that at the end of a frantic last quarter, Arsenal scored an equaliser that was both dramatic and deserved.
That goal kept Arsenal on top but only on goal difference and even if they have a game in hand, they've got United right alongside and an ever-improving Chelsea just behind. Though they were outpassed for long periods of yesterday's match at the Emirates Stadium, United were not outplayed and would have won if only their defence had played with the authority they had consistently shown in earlier matches this season.
Perhaps it was disappointment with some ordinary defending that tempted Sir Alex Ferguson to find lots of fault with aspects of the game. He believed referee Howard Webb wasn't always fair. "At times, he favoured Arsenal," said United's manager, which tends to be a complaint one hears at Old Trafford, though it is always the visiting manager who feels that.
Ferguson was also unhappy about the abuse he and his staff had to endure during the match. Seated behind the United dug-out were some passionate Arsenal supporters who were not slow to express their point of view. "There is a lack of security here," he said. "On our bench we were getting terrible abuse from people two or three feet away."
It was impressive though that as he closes in on 21 years of extraordinary success at Old Trafford, Ferguson still retains his capacity to see everything from United's point of view. He noticed the foul on Louis Saha that Howard Webb missed - had it been detected, Arsenal wouldn't have got their second goal.
Even that goal, said Ferguson, came from "pumping the ball" into the box. Ah, Sir Alex. Take another look. Watch how Gael Clichy won possession right out alongside you near half, ran past a United defender, steadied himself and played the most delightful cross that caused absolute mayhem in your team's defence. I bet when he's at home this evening and re-watching that goal, he will be smiling to himself, "oh, that was a good ball."
Despite the abuse suffered by the United manager and the fourth official, we did have our lighter moment at the Emirates. Someone asked Arsene Wenger if he thought Gallas's late equaliser had crossed the line, before it was beaten out by Edwin van der Sar, and then ruled a goal by the assistant referee, Darren Cann. "I didn't see it," said Wenger. Shamelessly, we had always thought that Arsene suffered temporary blindness only when an Arsenal player did something wrong. How mistaken we were.
The Sunday Telegraph:
It was fascinating to watch nonetheless. Beforehand, a topic of conversation had been the theory that you never get an outstanding match at lunchtime, but this sagged only when, after Arsenal's first equaliser, it appeared to dawn on both teams that a draw would be no disaster.
The substitutions put that right and for Sir Alex Ferguson the satisfaction of putting one over Arsene Wenger must have been sweet. Wenger threw on Theo Walcott in an attempt to embarrass Patrice Evra, but it was the left back who prevailed by surging forward to set up — with the splendid assistance of another Ferguson substitute, Louis Saha — a goal for Cristiano Ronaldo.
While it could be argued that assertions of Arsenal's defensive vulnerability must be exaggerated in the light of their respectable record — nine goals conceded in 11 league matches, as compared with United's six in 12 — its full extent was revealed by not only United's second goal, but the most inviting opportunity afforded Wayne Rooney, who gave the ball to Ryan Giggs, received in return a rare peach of a right-footed cross and, despite extraordinarily loose marking, steered a header wide. Poor though Rooney's finishing was, he utterly outshone Carlos Tevez, whose replacement by Saha was no surprise.