For a split second, it looked as though Arsenal had done it. Shkodran Mustafi – excellent in the heart of their defence – had leapt to meet Granit Xhaka’s 75th‑minute free-kick and then the ball was in the net and he was wheeling away in celebration. One fan in the away end lost himself in the moment. He had come on to the pitch and was leaping about like a madman.

The offside flag from the assistant referee on the far side stopped the scene in its tracks. Mustafi felt his pulse slow and the supporter, who had jumped back over the barrier, was fished out and led away by the stewards.

It was an afternoon when Arsenal almost secured the big away win they craved but one that, in the final analysis, contained a lot more good than bad – which is not something that has been said too regularly about them of late on this sort of occasion.

The headline statistic had screamed for attention beforehand.

Since the beginning of the 2012-13 season Arsenal had played 26 Premier League away games against their rivals in the Big Six and had won three – at Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool. Worse, there had been several beatings and abject humiliations – the most recent being the 4-0 at Liverpool on 27 August.

So what could be expected here, at a ground where they had lost five in a row by an aggregate scoreline of 15-2? The answer was not much, in truth, and the majority of their supporters had simply wanted to see a performance of fight and cohesion, irrespective of the result. They got that – and a first away point of the season was thrown in for good measure.

Even Arsène Wenger would admit afterwards the attitude on display was more important than the final scoreline and, as the closing minutes ticked down – with the Chelsea substitute Eden Hazard looking dangerous – it became possible to feel his players were more concerned with not losing than pushing for the win.

The game throbbed with intensity and Arsenal were challenged as much on the psychological front as anything else. They gave a robust answer and, after the introspection of the Liverpool defeat, Wenger could feel the balm of stability. “We responded well in domains where we were questioned,” Wenger said, which pretty much summed it up.

Arsenal grew into the game, after a nervy start, and from about the 15-minute mark to the half-time whistle the long-suffering travelling fans might have rubbed their eyes; their team were in charge.

If Alexandre Lacazette had not fluffed his big chance on 41 minutes, following Aaron Ramsey’s driving run, they might have led at the interval. They had other openings in the first half.

Lacazette showed flashes of his razor‑sharp movement but he could not get things to go his way where it mattered most.

A case in point was the way he bolted away from David Luiz – who was shown a red card three minutes from time – in the 18th minute to create a shooting opportunity following Héctor Bellerín’s cut-back.

On that occasion Thibaut Courtois had to work sharply down to his right. Lacazette was good in the first half. He has to find a way to maintain the intensity for 90 minutes.

There had been plenty of discussion about whether Wenger ought to stick with his three-at-the-back formation. Does it give his team the platform to play or does it leave them vulnerable in this kind of match? He kept the faith here but what was noticeable was that Arsenal’s purple patches had less to do with the system and more to do with desire.

They pressed and they hustled, sometimes high up the field, and there was the moment on 34 minutes when four red shirts mobbed Willian in possession in his own half. They conceded a foul but it showed they were intent on upsetting Chelsea’s rhythm. Wenger had left out Mesut Özil because of a knee injury but Arsenal did not suffer in midfield. Alex Iwobi, who played instead, helped to set a high tempo.

Mustafi led the resistance at the back. Chelsea looked to get crosses in for Álvaro Morata but to no great effect – for which Arsenal had to take credit. It was a worry that, in the midst of their first-half control, they were caught cold by Cesc Fàbregas’s through-ball for Pedro but Petr Cech stood tall to block the one on one.

Alexis Sánchez appears to have been forgiven by the Arsenal support for having pushed to leave over the summer.

Used only as a substitute because he is short of match fitness, he heard his name chanted when he went out to warm up. Wenger would introduce him for Lacazette but it was asking too much for him to steal the headlines. Arsenal were happy to take the draw.