West Ham may have shot down Arsenal's 14-game winning run, but they will be kicking themselves that they did not halt the Gunners' 22-match unbeaten sequence as well.
The Hammers surrendered a two-goal lead and missed a penalty as Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord rescued a point for the champions in this fiercely contested thrill a minute derby.
"When you come back to 2-2 it feels like a victory," said a relieved Arsene Wenger after the game.
"You need special strengths to recover these situations but this team is exceptional and doesn't know when to give in."
Although the Arsenal coach had seen his side have the best of the opening chances the undaunted East Enders quickly found themselves standing toe to toe with their illustrious North London neighbours.
And, after Trevor Sinclair rocked a post, Joe Cole chose a timely moment to strike his first Premiership goal since May 2001 when he raced onto Frederic Kanoute's cross field pass before drilling a low 18-yarder past David Seaman and into the bottom right-hand corner just before the break.
It got even better for West Ham seven minutes after the restart when Kanoute himself got in front of Martin Keown to sweep home the tenacious Jermain Defoe's near post cross.
Having just scored one goal, Kanoute could have had another two in as many minutes, before Henry gave Arsenal a lifeline with a sensational, scorching 20-yarder which arrowed under David James' right-hand angle.
But when Ashley Cole lunged at England team-mate Joe Cole with 15 minutes left, Kanoute had the perfect chance to make it safe but the Frenchman's extraordinarily weak spot-kick was easily gathered at the base of his right-hand post by Seaman.
And Hammers paid dearly in the dying moments when Wiltord curled Kanu's lay-off beyond the flying James from 18 yards.
"We had individuals out-performing Arsenal's internationals," announced a disappointed Glenn Roeder after seeing that late, late leveller make it 23 matches without defeat.
"It was a winning performance yet we've only taken a point. We've let Arsenal get away with it."