The Gunners were shaken in the 28th minute when the home side were awarded a controversial penalty after their skipper Matt Holland was blocked by Lauren and referee Steve Dunn immediately pointed to the spot. A number of Arsenal players protested and Lauren was booked for dissent. Paolo Di Canio converted the spot-kick with a cheeky chip straight into the goal where the Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann had been standing before diving the wrong way. The setback fired Arsenal into action and they were unlucky not to equalise when Thierry Henry hit the post with a great left-foot shot. However, the Arsenal striker got his tenth goal of the season with a stunning free-kick into the roof of the net from 25 yards six minutes before the break. Charlton's Italian magician Di Canio limped off just before the break with a muscle injury much to his and the crowd's disappointment and was replaced by Jason Euell. But surprisingly in view of the goalmouth excitement of the first half, neither side were able to find the net after the break. Henry was always a threat for the home side, twice shooting wide. Charlton almost nicked a winner when Hermann Hreidarsson's close-range header was tipped over the bar by Lehmann. Charlton battled manfully for a deserved point and introduced young striker Jamal Campbell-Ryce near the end as their injury crisis lengthens following Di Canio's injury. Charlton: Kiely, Kishishev, Perry, Fish, Hreidarsson, Jensen, Parker, Holland, Stuart, Di Canio, Johansson. Subs: Royce, Powell, Euell, Campbell-Ryce, Fortune. Arsenal: Lehmann, Lauren, Campbell, Toure, Cole, Ljungberg, Parlour, Silva, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry. Subs: Stack, Wiltord, Edu, Cygan, Kanu. Attendance: 26,660
Referee: S Dunn (Gloucestershire)