Played at Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Saturday, 20
Arsenal bounced back from their midweek defeat by Porto but made heavy weather of what should have been a comfortable win over struggling Sunderland.
Arsenal vs Sunderland Match Report
A hard-fought 2-0 win over Sunderland allowed Arsenal to move back into the title race.
Goals from Nicklas Bendtner and a stoppage-time penalty from Cesc Fabregas were enough to secure the points but the Gunners had to sweat for every one of them.
The opening exchanges were dominated by the Gunners and they should really have been several goals ahead but for a series of last-ditch interventions from Sunderland defenders and the woodwork.
Samir Nasri, Fabregas and Theo Walcott were all denied by some desperate but effective defending.
A deflected shot from Bendtner hit the top of the bar before bouncing away to safety. Walcott in particular was causing the visitors and, in particular, George McCartney some intense problems with his searing pace.
The Gunners' flying winger could not quite manage a finish when he was twice put through on the right flank to leave McCartney in his wake. McCartney was moved to mark Fabregas man for man and Anton Ferdinand was switched to left-back.
Sunderland absorbed the pressure well and were set up for the counter-attack, like so many teams that have enjoyed success against the Gunners of late.
With Kenwyne Jones as the spearhead and Fraizier Campbell and Darren Bent in support the potential was there for an upset.
Campbell failed to pull the trigger when free in the Arsenal box, allowing himself to be crowded out of a good opportunity.
The Gunners did eventually take the lead through Bendtner in the 27th minute after a jinking run on the right side of the area by Emmanuel Eboue. The Ivorian's shot cum-cross across the face of the goal was not cut out and Bendtner nipped in to fire into the net from close range.
Some sloppy play in midfield by Aaron Ramsey in the 38th minute allowed Kieran Richardson to seize possession. He then slipped in Jones with a delightful ball that left the Arsenal defence flat-footed but the Sunderland striker dragged his shot wide of the left post.
The Gunners began brightly after the interval with Thomas Vermaelen coming within millimetres of connecting with a ball across goal as the Belgian defender slid in on 50 minutes and then Walcott had a shot from the right well saved by Craig Gordon.
The Sunderland keeper also denied Vermaelen with a flying save from the centre-back's 20-yard free-kick.
Arsenal had a fright in the 65th minute when Bent seemed to get away from Mikael Silvestre. The visitors alleged that he was being held back in the area, but the referee said no and Manuel Almunia was able to pounce to secure the ball.
At the other end the Gunners were queuing up to score a much-needed second, but they were again denied by Sunderland bodies and a series of saves by Gordon.
The Gunners wrapped up the game and took all the points with a stoppage-time penalty.
Fabregas was upended by Campbell on the left side of the area and the linesman flagged for a penalty, eventually given by referee Steve Bennett.
Arsenal vs Sunderland Highlights Video
or short highlights
26:12 GOAL - Nicklas Bendtner:Arsenal 1 - 0 Sunderland
Emmanuel Eboue runs into the box and finds the unmarked Nicklas Bendtner who has the simplest of finishes from close range.
90:00+2:24 GOAL - Francesc Fabregas:Arsenal 2 - 0 Sunderland
Cesc Fabregas converts the penalty to the relief of the Emirates crowd.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on the Premier League title race:
"The only thing we can do is win our games and hope the others drop points.
"The top two will drop points because they play against each other.
"Everton have beaten them both and there are plenty of other teams where you can drop points.
"We have two fights, one is to get away as far as possible from the teams in fourth, fifth and sixth and the other is to get as close as possible to the top."
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce:
"We had to ride our luck in the first 15 or 20 minutes in particular. But once we got a foothold we had some excellent chances of our own.
"We needed to take one to give us a little bit of confidence but overall I was delighted with the performance.
"It bodes well for the weeks ahead. We have stuck at it and we were right up for the fight."
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