Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gilberto slug it out in Highbury on Tuesday. (Reuters)

London: Arsenal and arch rivals Manchester United fought out a tense 0-0 draw on Tuesday that moved Chelsea closer to a second consecutive Premier League title.

There were few scoring chances in a passionate affair at Highbury, with the two sides packing midfield and seeming to worry more about avoiding defeat than taking maximum points.

The draw leaves second-placed United 13 points behind runaway leaders Chelsea.

Arsenal’s title hopes were realistically already over, they now trail Chelsea by a whopping 24 points in fifth position.

There was goalmouth melee at both ends in the closing minutes while Arsenal had a penalty appeal waved away when Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas went down under a challenge by United’s England defender Gary Neville.

But the spectacle fell short of what had been expected between two sides whose encounters had become the sharpest in English football.

Their last league meeting at Highbury before Arsenal move to the Emirates Stadium next season was also their first since both former captains moved on ? Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira to Juventus and United’s Roy Keane to Celtic.

Arsenal, starting with an unfamiliar five-man midfield and Thierry Henry as a lone striker, applied the early pressure without carving any chances.

Alexander Hleb miskicked an early Robert Pires cross, while Fabregas shot wide from the edge of the area after United tried to clear an Henry free kick.

Pires was the next to try his luck with an angled shot that was palmed away by Edwin van der Sar while Henry whistled another free kick narrowly wide of the Dutch keeper’s post.

If Arsenal were lacking a killer pass, United were missing the inventiveness of the absent Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney’s usual creative spark. Yet they still conjured up the best scoring chance in a spell of pressure before halftime.

Ruud van Nistelrooy unleashed a searing shot that Jens Lehmann could only parry, and Cristiano Ronaldo ? who scored twice when United won 4-2 here last season ? ballooned his follow-up over the bar.

Buoyed by their flourish, United looked the better side after the break, intent on revenge after last season’s penalty shootout defeat by Arsenal in the FA Cup final.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger threw on Dutch forward Dennis Bergkamp in search of a late winner, but it was United who nearly had the final say when Wes Brown’s effort was cleared off the line.

Though the rivalry stretches back to a mass brawl at Old Trafford in 1990, there has been no shortage of fireworks in recent years.

Meanwhile, Barcelona came back from a goal down to claim a 3-1 win over third division Zamora in the first leg of their King’s Cup fifth-round tie on Tuesday, extending their winning streak to 14 matches in all competitions.

Arch-rivals Real Madrid snatched their first victory in three outings when a second-half strike from David Beckham earned them a 1-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao, their first victory at San Mames since 1998.

Unfancied Zamora, who knocked out Real Sociedad en route to the last 16, gave League champions Barcelona a run for their money and took a shock lead when Xaco steered home in the fifth minute.

The midfielder controlled a flick-on with his chest, burst his way between two defenders, checked inside Juliano Belletti and slotted past stand-in keeper Albert Jorquera.