By the rule of sod's law, Leeds United were bound to keep their first clean sheet in nine games on the very day that new £18 million signing Rio Ferdinand was introduced as the world's most expensive defender.

It was, too, United's first defensive shut-out in the Premiership at Elland Road since the opening-day 2-0 win against Everton.

Since then injuries have conspired to force manager David O'Leary to play everyone but himself in nine central defensive partnerships.

With the arrival of libero Ferdinand from West Ham, in the famous number 29 shirt, comes the promise of a tenth partnership, starting with next Saturday's away game at Leeds' bogey team, Leicester City.

Not that O'Leary was giving anything away afterwards, rather like his newly galvanised team, much better balanced with the return of left winger Jason Wilcox.

They scrapped against Arsenal much as they had in the home legs against AC Milan and Barcelona in the first phase of the UEFA Champions League when confronted by more technically gifted and tactically flexible continental players - even if non-flying Dutchman Dennis Bergkamp was absent on account of food poisoning (although it can't have been anything foreign).

For all the Champions League status of yesterday's combatants, this was a blood-and-thunder English match of the old school and by a mile the best League match of the season at Elland Road.

There may have been a Rio present, but the match could not have been farther removed from Brazil: all wind, rain, sliding tackles, dark stares, 45 fouls (Leeds 21; Arsenal 24) and eight bookings.

Both sides hit the woodwork, and everything in between, with Arsenal at last punished for taking it in turns to mount reckless challenges, when Ray Parlour's upending of Olivier Dacourt in the 56th minute was punished by the Frenchman himself. His central free kick took a helpful direction off Lauren past Alex Manninger for his first Leeds goal.

Arsenal surged forward but November is traditionally their nightmare month. Afterwards, manager Arsene Wenger called for more "offensive aggression": he meant from his attack but referee Dermot Gallagher had felt their tackling so offensively aggressive to be worthy of seven bookings. With that comes a £25,000 fine - mere nuts to rich boy Rio of course.