Over the last few days I have watched a lot of cricket. South Africa hosted India at Cape Town, while the Ashes series between Australia and England came to a conclusion in Sydney. Both matches were engaging, pulsating and entertaining sporting contests.

But after watching Leeds hold Arsenal to a 1-1 draw yesterday afternoon, I can’t help but tip my cap to the game of football. During the course of an hour and a half, Arsenal fans cycled through the complete emotional spectrum: expectation, frustration, shock, hope, relief and the bitter aftertaste of what might have been. Their rollercoaster was experienced– in reverse– by the 8,500-odd Leeds United fans that had packed into the Emirates. Football, eh?

The Result

Make no mistake, the result is disappointing and a replay in Yorkshire is definitely not what the doctor ordered. Arsenal created enough chances to win the game three times over, and so some frustration is justified. The upshot, however, is that we were four minutes away from an embarrassing cup exit. It’s hard to be overly upset when the team managed fight its way out of a very tricky corner.

On a day three EPL teams were knocked out of the FA Cup by lower league opposition, a hard-fought draw isn’t too bad a result. Wednesday’s game at Ipswich should be a lot less challenging, and I wouldn’t expect any ill-effects from this match. The Ipswich match is followed by a relatively low-key run of fixtures: West Ham away, Wigan at the Emirates, and the return fixture against the Tractor Boys.

Unfortunately, today’s result means that we will have another match sandwiched in between the league fixtures against West Ham and Wigan. In a busy month, it’s not what Arsenal needed.

The Performance

This was very much a second-string Arsenal side, and it showed. Rotation is to be expected, but I was surprised to see the team that lined up. In his post-match comments Arsène Wenger admitted that the balance of the side was wrong, especially in attack. Bendtner, Arshavin and Chamakh are three players struggling for form, and they didn’t complement each other at all well. Playing Bendtner as a winger also meant there wasn’t enough width, and the attacking tempo was slow as a result.

Wojo’s distribution was poor, but he made one superb save to keep the Gunners in the game after Leeds had gone 1-0 up. The defence was barely tested, but Djourou looked outstanding in everything he did. He was strong, quick and decisive in dealing with any Leeds pressure. Squillaci less so. The fullbacks were okay, although Eboue gave the ball away in dangerous positions a couple of times.

In the midfield, I actually thought Alex Song played pretty well, and I was a little surprised to see him taken off after an hour. Denilson… hmmm. At least he still has a rocket shot. I was most disappointed with Rosicky, who was anonymous until Cesc came on. That’s worrying, because he’s currently being used as a direct replacement for when Cesc is rested.

As I mentioned before, the attack was very disjointed. After a stellar first few months, Chamakh seems to have hit a wall and needs a spell out of the side to regain fitness and form. Bendtner was actually pretty decent (except his finishing, as usual), and cut in dangerously a couple of times. Arshavin had “one of those days”. Unfortunately he’s had a few too many of those in the past few weeks.

In the end it was left to Walcott’s pace and Fabregas’ guile to pull this one out of the fire.

The Upshot

Amidst all the frustration and relief after a wasteful performance, there are a few things that we should bear in mind.

Firstly, this Arsenal side seems to have a great deal more mental fortitude than in the past. They came hard at Leeds in the final 10 minutes, and there was never a sense of blind panic that might have been evident earlier in the season.

At the same time, many of the same old problems continue to raise their heads. The Gunners are still horribly wasteful in front of goal, and we still only seem to have one decent (and fit) central defender. The same players are making mistakes, and we’re still heavily reliant on Cesc to get things moving in midfield.

Finally, we can be fairly confident that Arsène Wenger is treating the 2010-11 FA Cup with a lot more respect than in previous seasons. Arsenal lost 3-1 at Stoke last season with a patched up team featuring several reserve team players. While the side selected to play Leeds may have contained some “second stringers”, there were no youth teamers picked.

When Leeds took the lead, Wenger brought on his two match-winners, Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas. Last year there was no such calling of the cavalry, and it certainly seems like Wenger didn’t mind crashing out of the cup early. That attitude has changed, and I like it… I like it a lot.