Robin Van Persie's name is mud inside the Emirates Stadium.

Actually it is all manner of colourful things, Arsenal supporters yesterday taking 90 minutes out of their afternoon to let their former striker know they have yet to get over his transfer to Manchester United. Time may be a great healer but there would seem to be many in London who are still sore that he left last summer.

Van Persie was once the hero, the Arsenal talisman, the guy known affectionately as RVP. Now he is referred to by words which seem to require a series of asterisks and crude hand gestures.

There were plenty of those yesterday; the Dutchman marking his return to London by scoring a penalty on the cusp of half-time to help United secure a draw on their first act of duty since being confirmed as Barclays Premier League champions. Arsenal's players had formed a guard of honour before the game but it came to resemble a gauntlet for Van Persie to run out into a stadium that has been bristling since the day he left.

The Dutchman kept his composure from the spot, poking in his penalty after Bacary Sagna had left him in a heap moments before, while the United striker also seemed unmoved by his goal – declining the opportunity to celebrate, not even permitting himself to raise a finger in recognition. You suspect he would have been told exactly where he could put it had he dared.

It was a mark of respect to his former club on his first visit to the Emirates since joining United. Van Persie had allowed the home support a moment to jeer him after just two minutes, too, with the striker at fault for surrendering possession and allowing Arsenal to mount an attack which ended with Theo Walcott clipping a shot over David De Gea, the United goalkeeper.

Such a moment hinted at a rambunctious start against the champions, but typical of Arsenal, it wouldn't last. The sale of Van Persie has become the symbol of the London side's failing ambition this past decade – Arsenal having won the title in 1998, 2002 and 2004, but with now the colour of their shirts are all they have in common with United.

Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United have strengthened year on year, packing away their 20th league title a week ago with a squad having proven to be the strongest in the league. A draw with Arsenal was perhaps no way to prove that, but consider instead that the Old Trafford side have suffered defeat in the league just once since November, and that was against Manchester City.

It is a run of form which Arsenal have seldom looked capable of since the days of the Invincibles, with Wenger now compelled – more than that, the Frenchman is now agreeable – to the sale of his best players. Van Persie to United was the most painful, while Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri went to City and Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona.

Those were sales which exasperated the Arsenal fans. Walcott could have scored after two seconds and they would still have found cause to grumble about that.

Who knows what might have happened if Wenger had been a shade less prudent? If only he had speculated; if only he had pressed the board to ease their wage restrictions and make Van Persie the most highly paid footballer in the league; if only he had spent big to bring the elite to the Emirates Stadium, instead of settling for second best too often.

In United, they are made to watch players of such calibre strutting around in red and white – players such as Phil Jones and Michael Carrick, who both excelled in midfield as the champions recovered their composure in London. It was never likely that they were going to crumble under an onslaught from an Arsenal side which needed all three points to bolster in their quest to secure qualification for the Champions League next season. One may not prove enough.

It was a sentiment not lost on their supporters. At least they got to take it all out on Van Persie.