Phillips 90 + 2           Nasri 81

Arsenal dropped two vital points against Birmingham, as they did in 2008 when they last challenged for the title.

Samr Nasri’s 81^st minute strike looked set to decide a scrappy game on a poor pitch.

But keeper Manuel Almunia allowed veteran striker Kevin Phillips’ goalbound deflection bounce off his hands in the second minute of stoppage time.

Arsenal’s best chance of a tight first-half came shortly before the half-hour mark when Theo Walcott pounced on a Scott Dann error but Blues keeper Joe Hart rushed out to block his shot.

Almunia saved well from Cameron Jerome, who was then denied by a last-ditch Sol Campbell tackle as the hosts finished the first-half strongly.

And on 61 minutes Roger Johnson’s right-foot shot from a tight angle struck the post, with the rebound hitting Dann and clearing the crossbar.

With nine minutes left, however, Arsenal capitalised on their increasing pressure when Nasri ran unchallenged towards the penalty area before firing a low 20-yard drive past Hart’s right hand.

Andrei Arshavin and Nasri wasted glorious opportunities to make the game safe and were punished on 92 minutes when Craig Gardner’s deflected cross hit Phillips, ballooned off Almunia’s hands and dropped into the net.