West Ham United 1 - 1 Arsenal

	Martin Keown keeps tabs on Joe Cole (ShaunBotterill/Allsport)

Unsurprisingly, Di Canio pleaded his innocence last night, the culprit, according to the Italian, of a sharpened sense of theatre was referee Mike Riley.

Di Canio had not dived in the 34th minute when he went to ground under challenge from Arsenal's Martin Keown. He had been heinously fouled. He was deserving of a penalty.

At least, that was the Italian version of events as told to West Ham manager Glenn Roeder, who said: 'Paolo was absolutely adamant that he was fouled. He wants us to look at the video to see if we should consider an appeal.'

Not that Di Canio was alone in being accused of play-acting. Arsenal's Robert Pires was also booked when he collapsed in the penalty area after being tackled by Nigel Winterburn, once one of the pillars of the fabled Highbury defence.

Roeder admitted: 'My first reaction when I saw Paolo go down was that it was a penalty. But I have to be honest that when the Arsenal lad went down I thought that was a penalty, too.'

Referee Riley brandished a host of yellow cards, to Lauren and Patrick Vieira, of Arsenal, and to Michael Carrick, Tomas Repka and Joe Cole of West Ham. 'No one would have called that a dirty game,' said Roeder.

Riley's insistence in penalising overly aggressive tackling meant that a derby with some tempestuous history was never allowed to get out of control.

Yet when Di Canio collects his Fair Play Award, given as a commendation for the day he caught the ball at Goodison rather than take advantage of an injury to Everton goal-keeper Paul Gerrard, he will do so

knowing the caution he received yesterday assures him of a suspension. Nothing in the life of the Italian - once banned for pushing a referee to the ground - is ever simple.

But these are days of champagne and canapes in pie-and-mash land. A deserved draw with Arsenal one week after beating Manchester United enables Roeder to bank four points from two of the mightiest clubs in the land.

Not an achievement to be dismissed lightly. Just over two months ago West Ham conceded 12 goals in two games, at Everton and Blackburn. Roeder, they said, would be getting his P45 before Christmas.

Yet the manager has retained a quiet dignity, not worrying for a second that Alan Curbishley and Steve McClaren had both been ahead of him when the West Ham board looked for a successor to Harry Redknapp. Roeder knew he might never again have a chance to manage again at this level - and all he asked was for his best players to be released from the treatment room.

When Frederic Kanoute was declared fit yesterday, his wish had been granted. And while Jermain Defoe could be considered unfortu-nate to be omitted after being the match-winner at Old Trafford, Kanoute responded on his return to action after six weeks out with a sweetly-struck goal from Sebastien Schemmel's astute pass in the 36th minute.

Sloppily, West Ham surrendered that lead within three minutes. Lauren's cross caused panic in the West

Ham area and Ashley Cole arrived at the far post to claim his first goal of the season. Then Kanoute was unable to return for the second half because of a thigh strain.

But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was content with a point, notwithstanding that Sylvain Wiltord had missed a good chance in the first half and Gilles Grimandi and Dennis Bergkamp had each struck shots against the crossbar.

Bergkamp would have been particularly depressed with his miss in the 80th minute after substitute Kanu had granted him the freedom of Upton Park with a superb through-pass.

Had that opportunity fallen to Thierry Henry, West Ham might not have survived. But Wenger admitted graciously: 'On the whole I'm pleased with my team because West Ham are technically a good side and they showed a good spirit today.'

Wenger may be without Pires through injury when Newcastle, so allergic to playing in the capital, travel to Highbury on Tuesday.

But unlike Roeder, Wenger has strength in depth and the West Ham manager will spend the week trusting that his medical team can get Kanoute fit for the weekend.