Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0

This was the game that forgot its box-office history. This was a famous fixture that has seen tunnel skirmishes, title deciders, classic cup final ­climaxes, shirt-twirling celebrations, the end of an epic 49-game run, penalty shoot-outs, goal sprees, even flying pizza. This match served up two saves.

The memory of this stalemate will not have stayed with the fans for long, probably not even as far as the short wind-swept walk to Holloway Road Station. This was truly forgettable fare, barring Wojciech Szczesny tipping Robin van Persie’s header onto the bar and, moments later, the diving David de Gea stretching out a hand to deny Santi Cazorla.

There was some significance to the result. For Arsenal, it was a welcome clean sheet after their weekend mauling at Anfield but they missed the opportunity to return to the top of the Premier League. Manchester United have been vulnerable this season but Arsenal never went for the exposed jugular.

To the surprise of none of their sup­porters, Arsenal again paid the price for not buying another centre-forward in the January window. Olivier Giroud has mislaid his early-season sharpness, although he should have had a penalty when clearly pushed by Nemanja Vidic. Mesut Özil floated about, more influential than recently, but never looking like taking control.