What we now don't know about United-Arsenal race 
PK's PREMIERSHIP/Patrick Kinmartin

Arsenal and Manchester United collided horns Saturday after a two-month running start at each other, made the moustaches of Pay-Per-View reps in at least three continents bristle and then finally settled for all of us...absolutely nothing.

The 2-2 draw was able to brilliantly toy with the imaginations of the soccer-watching masses already on call for Armageddon (as always), but it didn't bemuse the Premiership table, which left the two right where they were beforehand.

Separating them indeed is going to be as hard as it looks. Put yourself in the position of a ringside judge asked to score this like one of boxing's grandest prize fights. No knockouts in 12 rounds, two knockdowns apiece for both sides and ultimately a decision to be made for the victor to be crowned.

You give the win to Arsenal. OK, fine, you've been justifiably wooed by the strong finish and edge in endurance the Gunners boasted in the frenetic final moments before the bell sounded and possibly saved wobbly-legged United from having to go out on a drilling sock to the head. How secure, though, would you be about your call?

So then give it to United. The first half was all theirs, they were the cleaner of the two in terms of silly mistakes and landed more punches despite throwing less. For that, they weren't decisive enough to drop Arsenal to a sprawl on the canvas when they had the chance, and yet the shimmering 2006-2007 title has blinded you into tossing the bone into their corner?

Really, what is clear is that last week everyone, especially on the heels of the Liverpool-Arsenal draw, wanted the Premiership to rally an injunction instituting Cup-final regulations in this setting for this very reason.

It didn't happen, so sit tight until April 12 and minutes 91-180 of "extra time" will ensue at Old Trafford when they meet again for a potential unlocking of the stalemate. Or maybe later that month when they cross paths in a Champions League semifinal. If not, until later in spring for a neutral go at Wembley with the FA Cup on the line.

A little maddeningly, Saturday's matchup was too even for more not to be desired.

Going in, this looked a lot like the epic Hulk Hogan-Ultimate Warrior main event at WrestleMania VI (from 1990 — YouTube it, microwave your popcorn and enjoy the thing some stormy afternoon.) If anyone was humanly capable of bottling up the Warrior at his best, it was going to be the traditionally unsinkable Hogan. Likewise with United up for the task of pinning explosive Arsenal.

And right before the two teams took the field at Emirates, commentator Jesse "The Body" Ventura's words to partner Gorilla Monsoon from that night 17 years ago while the Warrior made his patented dead sprint into the arena seemed fitting: "You know, I think that's a mistake. He should be conserving his strength right here. He's facing the challenge of his life, Gorilla!"

Hogan nor the Warrior looked daunted as the 67,678 in Toronto went nuts; the Gunners and Devils themselves did a fine job of holding poker faces firm in front of the 60,161 in North London. Alas, the two rivals performed how they know best to put the first marks on the scoreboard.

Wayne Rooney, who could give Jay Cutler a lesson on reading defenses, found an opening in front of William Gallas and, just like he did against unsuspecting Craig Gardner and Aston Villa two weeks ago, exploited for the goal. Arsenal evened up with its typical nifty tap dance — almost the length of the field, Tomas Rosicky to Cesc Fabregas to Alexandre Hleb to Fabregas to Emmanuel Adebayor to Emmanuel Eboue to Adebayor to shot on goal to Bacary Sagna keep-alive to Fabregas for goal.

Precision coaching helped guide the affair up a level.

Sir Alex Ferguson sensed a slumping Carlos Tevez and did something about it with the substitution of Louis Saha in the 76th minute. Credit Ferguson for not letting Tevez's contract get in the way of the move and Saha essentially was responsible for Cristiano Ronaldo's would-be winner in the 82nd minute.

Arsene Wenger released the hounds from his end, switching to goal-only gears in Theo Walcott and Eduardo Da Silva for his first two subs. That appeared costly when Ronaldo struck. Genius won out, however, when Walcott as an extra weapon forward was around to poke free the setup for the Gallas equalizer in the 90th.

United's legions-deep talent pool 2, young Arsenal's insatiable ways 2.
 
Youthful, relentless and vibrant got the Warrior that title win over Hogan. Looks like that's not going to be quite enough for the Gunners to push aside United at this point. No thanks to this grueling pair of Premiership forces, it's impossible to know for sure in early November if anything will.

Wrapping up the rest the Premiership weekend...

OWED DRINKS: New Tottenham boss Juande Ramos. One week into the job and he's clamoring for whatever tonic Martin Jol used to get through the sit-or-start dilemmas of trying to shoehorn Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov, Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and Steed Malbranque into the three main attacking valves. At least one will likely be gone in January.

OWES DRINKS: African Cup of Nations officials, buying for Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp . Though Redknapp has a lineup more equipped to handle the tournament's call for his African upstarts this season — Pompey was ravaged by absences during last season's — he can't be looking forward to losing Benjani Mwaruwari, the league's leading scorer, along with John Utaka and Papa Bouba Diop, heavy contributors in Saturday's win at Newcastle, for the Jan. 20-Feb. 10 stretch that features league matches against United, Chelsea and Bolton.

GOAL FULFILLED: Lee Carsley's extra-time smash for Everton tops Utaka's because of a look at the DAPP scale (the confluence of Distance, Accuracy, Purpose and Pace). Both boomers from outside the penalty area were tied in three of the four categories, but Carsley wins out because he showed far more purpose in needling the ball into the top-right corner of the net.

SAY IT IS SO: That Fox Soccer Channel, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary over the weekend, is continuing to mature at a smoother rate. It has a long way to go, but how the station has grown over the past two years alone suggests it might be able to one day adequately feed this country's increasing hunger for overseas soccer.

LET IT BE: Liverpool is the odd man out in the Big Four's stance at the top of the table and the Reds looked grotesquely average again against formidable Blackburn, but Rafa Benitez should be England's best shovel salesman these days with the way he's been able to dig out of holes throughout his stint at Anfield. He has the resources to do it once more, even if this one is slowly getting deeper.

3-POINT FINISH: The back line continues to be the place you wouldn't wish on your nephew to play in. Cover cornerbacks in the NFL are in similar fashion publicly shredded by offenses like taco cheese and this match week lent that much more value to the Premiership fullback that can hold his own in a gaffe-heavy universe. ... The comparisons of United-Arsenal to Patriots-Colts were numerous last week and both games were eerily the same at times. Perhaps the most striking quality the two shared was the way Ferguson and Wenger's tense post-match handshake had a similar rendition in the way Tony Dungy and Bill Belichick greeted each other after the New England win. ... Where is all this talk about Graeme Souness taking the reins at Wigan Athletic coming from? If there is one league destination less exhilarating than Bolton, where Souness turned down the gig made open by Sammy Lee's firing, it's low-supported, lower-budgeted Wigan.

Patrick Kinmartin covers the English Premier League for 101soccer.com, you can contact him at PK@101soccer.com