Vieira and Henry: masterpieces for the time capsule

Sven brought Nancy on a soirée here, presumably in the expectation of discussing with her the finer points of prospective England players. The England manager was to be largely frustrated.

Chelsea captain and centre-back John Terry and Arsenal striker Francis Jeffers, the latter enjoying a renaissance here when all speculation continued to insist that he would have been passed out of the transfer window, may have registered themselves as the first two scorers, and both contributed performances worthy of his inspection. But on an evening when such was the frantic energy expended that Tony Blair might be tempted to harness Highbury to the National Grid as a green source of power, it was the French tricolour which flew most proudly.

On Friday, Arsène Wenger responded jauntily to Sir Alex Ferguson's caustic observations about his own claims of Arsenal's stature, by stating that Arsenal weren't cocky; they were just better than anyone else. At least that's the way it came across. For the first half, they totally vindicated that assessment against the team they vanquished in last year's final, and also one of their fiercest adversaries.

As we are acutely aware by now, the Gunners are considerably more than a two-man team, and that was evident indeed when, after offering Chelsea an invitation to seize control of a contest in which historically they are overwhelmed, the massed red ranks retaliated with a merciless assault on the visitors' goal which appeared to have concluded the affair by half-time.

When Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry set about an opposition rearguard it truly is an aesthete's treat. For a period in the first half, it was possible to argue that Vieira and his former Highbury midfield associate Emmanuel Petit, now with Chelsea, were engaged in battle on a level plane. But the former gradually raised his game with such an extraordinary range of passing and incisive challenges that by the interval there was simply no comparison.

It was the captain's imperious pass, thread through needlehead in its difficulty quotient, which released Jeffers to bring about the penalty with Arsenal a goal in arrears. The young England striker needs no lessons from Michael Owen in winning a penalty, and when Carlo Cudicini dashed to deny him there would only ever be one conclusion. Not was it the referee, Paul Durkin's, best verdict. He's a clever lad, is the character from Liverpool, but not everyone will have been impressed by his "soft" fall.

Cudicini denied Henry with spine-stretching brilliance – how Eriksson would delight in the Italian taking English citizenship and making himself available for his team – but the Frenchman was the master thereafter. He contributed to the equaliser and stole a second as half-time beckoned with a goal, again from a masterful Vieira spoon-up towards him, like a chip out of the rough, with a pirouette which baffled Cudicini every bit as satisfactorily as Dennis Bergkamp did against Newcastle last season.

Arsenal have announced that a time capsule containing club memories will be buried at their new stadium when building begins at Ashburton Grove in the next few months. Fans were asked for their own ideas. Bergkamp's boots that scored that goal is a popular choice. The club's vice-chairman, David Dein, impishly suggests: "The newspaper from September, 1996 which carried the headline: "Arsène who?" This observer's suggestion is David Seaman's ponytail. Though it may be more appropriate to despatch by rocket capsule into deep space.

But there would be many who would like to bottle whatever it is that inspires Vieira to the heights he so consistently achieves. And another of that potion which imbues Henry with such pace and control, often from a standing start.

Vieira, of course, was dismissed early in the season at Stamford Bridge, after which he was punished further for "hurting the feelings" of referee Andy D'Urso. Since then, the rage that too often diminished his performances has largely dispersed. At 26, he has inherited Tony Adams' captain's armband with distinction, though unlike his predecessor he claims: "I can say something to the players; they can say something to me. I am not a shouter. I am democratic."

Maybe just a touch of brutal dictatorship would have been in order in the second half, when his side decided that their London rivals had been despatched to a fruitless season. Chelsea, though never on par with Wenger's men in terms of overall quality, displayed a perseverance exemplified by Terry, who might just have given Eriksson something to consider when he announces his next squad.

Did Arsenal just have their minds attuned to Tuesday's Champions' League contest with Roma? Difficult to say. But after Chelsea had searched diligently for that elusive equaliser, Frank Lampard's late goal eventually produced a replay.

Chelsea will take considerably more delight in that fact than their hosts here, though if it hadn't been for Cudicini once more in the closing seconds, when he denied Giovanni van Bronckhorst, that would have been unnecessary.

But on a weekend when you have to search hard and wide to discover another tie that truly sets the pulses racing, this will have been televised football at its best, and on the BBC, too.

It will be greatly welcomed by a Football Association who will, currently, seize on anything to enhance the rather downgraded status of the organisation and the old Cup itself.