Frustration upon frustration for Arsenal. First they were stymied by bureaucracy, then the referee, and finally by Leicester.

Despite enjoying near total possession, Arsene Wenger's side had to watch helplessly as City's disciplined rearguard performance earned them the draw they came for, even shrugging off their reduction to 10 men for the final nine minutes when Darren Eadie was harshly sent off for a second yellow card.

But Arsenal's disappointment at having to replay on Wednesday week was compounded by the fact that among the 10 cautions administered by the overfussy referee Mike Riley was one shown to Davor Suker for mild dissent.

It leaves the Croatian suspended for the league game at Manchester United on January 24th.

Given the absence of Nwankwo Kanu, on international duty for Nigeria in the African Nations Cup, and with Dennis Bergkamp still struggling with a calf injury, Arsenal face a striker shortage for a game that may decide their title chances.

They hope to have Bergkamp back for the United game, but the Gunners' vice-chairman David Dein is attempting to get permission for Kanu to fly home and play for Arsenal between Nigeria's games - though, even then, he will not be available against Alex Ferguson's side as his country's first match is a day earlier.

As it turned out Kanu was nearly prevented from travelling to Africa by an awful studs-first, over-the-top tackle by Robbie Savage which nearly snapped his leg in two. "You can end a career like that," said Wenger afterwards.

That Savage only received a yellow card for the worst tackle of the game by far only highlighted the inconsistencies of Riley, who first booked Eadie for an innocuous challenge on Fredrik Ljungberg then issued a second when the player took the ball away instead of allowing a freekick to be taken.

The shower of yellow cards only added to the untidiness. It was a hard-fought tie, hardly an example of the beautiful game, as Arsenal struggled to impose on Leicester their superiority.

ARSENAL: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Grimandi, Silvinho, Ljungberg, Vieira, Petit, Malz (Kanu 63), Suker, Henry. Subs not used: Winterburn, Manninger, Luzhny, Hughes. Booked: Petit, Keown, Silvinho, Ljungberg, Suker.

LEICESTER: Arphexad, Sinclair, Taggart, Walsh, Eadie, Lennon (Marshall 63), Zagorakis (Campbell 73), Oakes, Savage, Heskey, Elliott. Subs Not Used: Gunnlaugsson, Gilchrist, Hodges. Sent Off: Eadie (81). Booked: Sinclair, Heskey, Eadie, Savage. Attendance: 35,710.

Referee: M Riley (Leeds).