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ROBIN VAN PERSIE left his shooting boots at home as the London rivals battled for a point apiece at the Emirates. |
Laurent Koscielny also hit the bar for the home side just before the break but Chelsea were frustrated too, with Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge both wasting opportunities.
Caretaker Blues boss Di Matteo’s team selection ended any doubt about where his priorities lay ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg.
Resting so many players was a huge gamble with Chelsea’s hopes of finishing in the Premier League top four hanging in the balance.
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TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS ... Chelsea caretaker boss Roberto Di Matteo (centre) watches the action |
Arsenal's resulting 25-yard free-kick should have given them the lead but Van Persie somehow conspired to poke Walcott’s pass against the post from no more than three yards.
Kalou wasted a glorious opportunity when he beat the onrushing Wojciech Szczesny to Florent Malouda’s ball over the top but his touch let him down.
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CECH THIS OUT ... Chelsea's keeper can only watch as Laurent Koscielny's header hits the crossbar |
Both sides were briefly down to 10 men after a nasty clash of heads between Sagna and Malouda, with the latter coming off worse.
Rosicky was booked for a late tackle on Essien as Chelsea continued to frustrate Arsenal, nullifying them even more effectively than they had Barca.
Ryan Bertrand screamed for a penalty after being bundled over by Sagna, although the contact was outside the box anyway.
Three minutes before half-time, Arsenal hit the woodwork again, an unmarked Koscielny heading Van Persie’s free-kick against the bar.
Then Cech came to the rescue when Van Persie drilled Alex Song’s pass straight at him in the dying seconds.
Chelsea started the second half on top, although Malouda was booked for tripping Van Persie, who immediately followed suit by needlessly hacking down Essien.
Torres wasted a good chance to thread in Kalou before Cahill was carded for upending Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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FRUSTRATION ... Chelsea's Fernando Torres has another disappointing afternoon |
Rosicky soon followed for Abou Diaby as Chelsea’s final ball continued to let them down on the break, the visitors bringing on John Obi Mikel for Romeu.
Arsenal’s final change saw Oxlade-Chamberlain off for Andre Santos and Ashley Cole and Juan Mata came on from Chelsea.
Mike Dean waved play-on as Van Persie went down theatrically in the box with 10 minutes to go and Cole was cautioned for a cynical foul as tempers started to fray.
The Arsenal skipper then sliced a horrible shot wide with his right foot having found space in behind the Chelsea defence.
Van Persie still had time for one more effort, twisting back and forth and only allowing Cech time to advance to block the resulting strike.
The point leaves Chelsea in sixth with all eyes on the trip to Barcelona on Tuesday night.
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