Robin van Persie earned a point for Barclays Premier League champions Manchester United in a 1-1 draw on his return to Arsenal.The former Gunners captain received the expected hot reception as soon as he stepped out at the Emirates Stadium for a guard of honour, which was impeccably observed by the Arsenal team to mark United's achievements in marching to a 20th championship.It was, though, Arsenal - without suspended forward Olivier Giroud - who raced into the lead as Theo Walcott beat the offside trap to fire the hosts ahead inside two minutes.However, despite enduring plenty of cheers from the home support as passions continued to run high in the wake of his controversial £24million move to Old Trafford last summer, Van Persie kept his cool to equalise from the spot just before half-time after being brought down by Bacary Sagna.To his credit, there was no wild celebration from the former Arsenal captain, who continued to test the home defence in the second half.Neither side, though, was able to press on and claim all three points, with a draw seeing Arsenal drop into fourth place, but still two points ahead of Tottenham, albeit having played a match more in the race for Champions League qualification.A chorus of boos greeted Van Persie as he emerged from the tunnel at the end of the United line.Those jeers, however, were soon replaced by raucous celebration as Walcott swept the hosts ahead.Van Persie lost possession on the half-way line, and Arsenal countered quickly as the ball was worked up field to Tomas Rosicky, whose released Walcott down the right.