Arsenal 3 Van Persie 2, Senderos
Sunderland 2 Miller, Jones
It was a hurried breaking of fast, a simple meal of rice with gulai daging and a salted egg. Of course, the Maghrib prayer before parking my bums in front of the TV. By the time the picture came the scoreline already read Arsenal 1 Sunderland 0.
I did not see how the goal came about, but the replay of the goal certainly showed it was another beautiful precision by Robin Van Persie from a dead ball situation. I read in the match report later that the free-kick was a result from a foul, and despite Vassiriky Abou Diabi had blasted the ball into the net, referee Rob Styles had blown for the foul.
Luckily, it did not matter.
Manu Adebayor had failed to find the net for the last two matches he started, but this was not due to his lack of trying. The Togolese managed to connect with a wonderful cross from Bacary Sagna but Craig Gordon showed the prove why he became the costliest goalkeeper in Britain, with a brilliant save.
If he is not scoring, then he would be creating chances for others. Just like his cutback in Bucharest, this time Adebayor collected a loose ball in the Sunderland box and returned it into the box following a corner.
Diaby failed to connect properly but Phillipe Senderos took a stab at it. Sunderland players were taken by surprise and could only watch as the ball bounced over the goal-line.
Arsenal were in total control.
Alex Hleb displayed his usual trickery on the right side of midfield. In the 20th minute he sent a teasing cross into the box. Matthieu Flamini failed to get a good touch but Diaby was once again came from the blind side to blast home ball.
It was supposed to be 3-0 to Arsenal and the Wearsiders would have been deflated. But it was not to be. The assistant referee had raised his flag for what it seemed to be a contentious offside decision against Flamini.
Sunderland received a lifeline. They began to believe that they could get something from this match and Arsenal began to feel the pressure. A long pass from Dwight Yorke was taken down superbly by Kenwyne Jones.
The striker's attempt was blocked by Manuel Almunia but the rebound fell to Liam Miller who remained calm to slot the ball home. Sunderland tried to put Arsenal under more pressure and created a few more chances in a period where they had the upper hand over the Gunners.
However, they were saved by the impressive Gordon again when in a typical Arsenal counter-attack, Van Persie found the goal within his shooting range. The Scotland goalkeeper got his hands to the goal-bound shot and diverted it over the bar.
Senderos could have his name on the scoresheet again from the corner, but he completely missed the goal from just a couple of metres out.
The interval came with Arsenal just remained ahead.
But four minutes after the restart, the advantage was gone. Arsenal seemed a bit stretched on the right side of defence, allowing Miller to send a wonderful weighted cross into the box. Jones who had been winning his aerial battles with Senderos all day, did not have any problem outjumping Gael Clichy to head Sunderland into level terms, despite the best effort from Almunia.
At this moment it was anybody's game. At the hour mark Kolo Toure saw his long range effort hit the post with Gordon completely beaten.
Seeing that his could do with fresh legs and additional pace, Arsene Wenger took off Diaby and Sagna for Theo Walcott and Manu Eboue respectively. The England youngster showed he has begun to mature with a number of beautiful runs and used the ball to good effect.
Unfortunately, he seemed to have a bit of a bad luck when it comes to finishing off chances. With a quarter of an hour to go, Hleb who had switched flanks cut inside the Sunderland defence before delivering a teasing ball across the goalmouth.
It was easier to score than to miss but Walcott somehow managed to trip himself and the chance went a begging. However, Walcott made amends a few minutes later. Eboue found him at the edge of the box, and with a superb turn took him clear of the defender before delivering the ball across the box to Van Persie.
The Dutchman wonderful take allowed him to blast the ball past Gordon in a quick movement. Arsenal were ahead again and this time did not allow Sunderland to comeback again. The visitors were down to 10 men after Paul McShane was red carded for a foul on Hleb, which made life even more difficult for them.
Walcott could have made the scoreline bigger but his shot hit the post, and it would not give a true reflection of what a close and entertaining match this has been. Arsenal went back to the top of the Premier League again, where they would remain during the international break.
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