Birmingham City managed to hold on to a draw to claim a priceless point against Arsenal in their Premiership clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Arsenal had taken the lead through Emmanuel Adebayor in the 21st minute who scored from a controversial penalty but Birmingham equalized through a deflected header by Garry O'Connor two minutes into the second half and survived a late siege on their goal to grab a vital point.

Arsenal looked set for a huge victory over Birmingham as the hosts came out with all guns blazing. Eduardo da Silva could have given his side an early lead but was unable to find good contact to Gael Clichy's cross from the left flank while William Gallas headed his chance straight into the waiting hands of Maik Taylor from close range.

Birmingham had one great chance to take the lead but Manuel Almunia pulled off a brilliant save to deny Cameron Jerome from the edge of the area. Eduardo was once again wasteful with his chance, heading the ball straight to Taylor, but made amends three minutes later when he won the penalty after the referee adjudged that Stephen Kelly had fouled the Croatian while replays showed that the defender had got the ball.

Adebayor stepped up to the take the penalty kick and made no mistake from the spot to put his side in the lead. The Gunners continued to attack and create chances, but were unable to build on their lead in the first half.

And Birmingham made them pay for the missed chances by equalizing in the 48th minute when Sebastian Larsson's corner was met with a thumping header by O'Connor which took a deflection off Fabregas before going into the net.

Arsenal pressed forward in search of the lead and Eduardo, Adebayor and Senderos all had good chances but were unable to hit the target. With time running out, Gallas and Fabregas had great chances of restoring the lead but Birmingham held on to claim a hard fought point from the match.