The France striker came off the bench to cap a tumultuous afternoon with a beautiful equaliser in the 84th minute to keep Arsenal four points behind Spurs with a game in hand.

That strike cancelled out Robbie Keane's hugely controversial opener for Spurs, the Irishman converting Edgar Davids's pass despite Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue lying injured.

That sparked angry scenes on and off the pitch, although it was not the only talking point, as Davids was sent-off late on for two bookable offences.

Spurs made a turbo-charged start, inspired largely by Aaron Lennon, whose pace and trickery tormented Arsenal's creaky back-line.

After 18 minutes, Mathieu Flamini was bamboozled by a slick passing interchange between the teenager and Keane, but Lennon dragged his cross-shot wide.

Seven minutes later, Lennon was causing havoc again, tearing past Philippe Senderos and slipping a pass to Jermain Defoe, who shot tamely at Jens Lehmann. The England striker gave the German more to think about seconds later when he smashed a close-range volley into his face.

Arsenal were ragged. Shorn of Henry, their attack lacked a focal point and they should have fallen behind in first-half stoppage time when Michael Carrick danced past Gilberto and Johan Djourou, rounded Lehmann but shot into the side-netting.

Wenger's jittery mood was not helped by the sight of Senderos stumbling off after being clattered by Keane, and in the 62nd minute Wenger turned to his main artillery.

On came Henry and Fabregas, but four minutes later Spurs were ahead courtesy of that hugely controversial goal.

Arsenal expected either Carrick or Davids to play the ball out after Eboue was left stricken by Defoe's challenge, but the Dutchman sprinted down the left and squared for the unmarked Keane to slide in a simple goal.

Wenger's players were furious but the manager was equally apoplectic, with stewards having to come between him and Tottenham boss Martin Jol on the touchline. It took almost three minutes for play to re-start as Spurs's pocket of supporters celebrated.

Their joy was premature. In the 84th minute, Emmanuel Adebayor capped a thrilling run with an exquisite pass to Henry, who dinked a delightful shot with the outside of his right-boot into the bottom corner.

Arsenal were inspired, but not even Davids's second yellow card for a lunge at Fabregas could prompt a dramatic winner.