Read Louise Taylor’s match report from the Stadium of Light:
Full time: Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal
Peep peep! Arsenal outclassed Sunderland and go top of the table, for the next couple of hours at least. Their next two league games are against Spurs and Jose Mourinho. Win those, and every Arsenal fan in the land will have permission to get giddy. Thanks for your company, bye.
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90 min There will be three additional minutes of vague existential angst for Sunderland.
89 min Coquelin is replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
88 min Quasimodo predicted all this.
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87 min “Strike my previous remarks from the record; Gibbs is the player that Ashley Cole always wanted to be,” says Matt Loten. “On the other hand, I watched Traore play for a year at Portsmouth and he didn’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘defensive half.’ The boy could scare the life out of an opposing full-back, though. And to just hammer home his point, Gibbs has skinned his marker and found Sanchez as I type. I’m retiring from this armchair punditry lark. At least until the next MBM.”
85 min “Is Matt Loren hanging around for the Palace v Liverpool game later?” asks Matt Dony. “It’d be appreciated if he could write off a couple of Liverpool defenders...”
84 min Another Sunderland substitution: Watmore is replaced by Lynden Gooch.
82 min It’s another grim day for Sunderland but, really, they were always likely to lose this match. The next two - Bournemouth away and especially Hull at home - are the ones that matter. If they don’t win one of those, they will be in the malodorous stuff.
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79 min Ramsey replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain, I missed that. And Gibbs has been booked for something or other. Thousands of Sunderland fans left the ground when that fourth goal was scored. There were plenty of boos too, though they might have been for Sanchez.
GOAL! Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal (Alexis 78)
It’s becoming a rout. Gibbs rattled the post but Arsenal kept the ball alive through Ramsey, and Sanchez stabbed the ball past Pickford from a few yards.
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GOAL! Sunderland 1-3 Arsenal (Giroud 76)
Ozil’s free-kick hits the top of the wall and goes behind for a corner - and that leads to another goal for Giroud! Ozil swung the corner to the near post, where Giroud got a run on Djilobodji and steered a very good backheader over Pickford and into the net. I assume he meant that. That was a bit of a Steve Bould little eyebrows homage, except this one went straight into the net.
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74 min Januzaj boots Coquelin in the face. He didn’t know he was there, in fairness, but it’s a free-kick to Arsenal in the D.
73 min Ozil should have made it 3-1. Gibbs broke into space again, screamed “HAVE SOME OF THIS MATT LOTEN!” and played an inviting low cross to Ozil at the near post. He didn’t get enough on his attempted shot, however, and it drifted across goal.
72 min That was a really good goal; he adjusted his body like it was a piece of Playdoh.
GOAL! Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal (Giroud 71)
Giroud scores with his first touch! Sanchez played the ball down the left to Gibbs, whose flat cross was volleyed deftly into the far corner by Giroud. That’s an excellent goal.
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71 min “Whilst Arsene has demonstrated Arsenal’s enviable strength in depth by coping perfectly well today without Cazorla, Xhaka or Walcott, I’m still not entirely convinced what Kieron Gibbs brings to the party,” says Matt Loten. “As much as I would like to see an English player establish himself as a regular for a top team, it does seem to me as though he has made it this far mostly because he’s good at running quite quickly. Defensively he often looks caught in two minds and positionally suspect; and when he gallops forward his passing and decision-making look suspect. I’m willing to be proven wrong, but he strikes me as an Armand Traore or Justin Hoyte who’s been kept on the books for much longer than he really deserves.”
It’s funny how things work out. I remember doing a League Cup game against Newcastle in 2007, and Traore looked nailed on to follow Clichy and Cole off the left-back production line; he was so good.
70 min Now Sunderland make a substitution: Steven Pienaar is replaced by Adnan Januzaj.
70 min Koscielny, jumping almost backwards at the far post, heads a corner over the bar.
70 min An Arsenal substitution: Olivier Giroud replaces Alex Iwobi.
69 min Ozil’s cute pass finds Oxlade-Chamberlain, who smashes a cross on the turn right across the face of goal.
67 min Alexis was booked for his complaints.
66 min Arsenal will be pretty aggrieved at the penalty appeal they had just before Watmore was fouled. Kone definitely put his hand on Alexis’s shoulder, which I suppose is a foul in the current climate. Alexis is still irritated and has a long moan at Martin Atkinson before kicking off.
GOAL! Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal (Defoe 65 pen)
Defoe scores emphatically, curling it high to his right as Cech goes the other way.
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PENALTY TO SUNDERLAND!
Oh my. Watmore races clear after an error from Mustafi, goes round Cech and is bumped to the ground. Cech is booked.
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62 min Alexis has a big appeal for a penalty turned down. He drew Kone in and then scooted past him and into the area. It looked like Kone put hands on him but Martin Atkinson waved his hands demonstratively, the universal sign of self-importance for no penalty.
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62 min After an awkward start to the second half, Arsenal have taken control again. Mustafi plays a very good pass down the inside-right channel to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who lofts a cross/shot well wide of the far post.
59 min Arsenal almost sting Sunderland on the counter. Ozil, just inside his own half, waves a gloriously insouciant lob over the defence to put Oxlade-Chamberlain clear in the inside-right channel. He outpaces the defender but drags his shot well wide of the far post from 15 yards.
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57 min A half-chance for Sunderland. Defoe finds Watmore on the left of the box with an angled pass, but Watmore’s low cross is really poor. He had two players in space at the far post but sidefooted it too close to Koscielny.
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56 min “Before that Alexis’ header, Arsenal hadn’t scored against a David Moyes’ team for over 380 minutes,” notes Admir Pajic. “Speaking of Moyes, he was one of the victims of his appointment at Manchester United. He was a 7th-placed manager that was given a hot seat at 1st-placed team that had just waved goodbye to the most successful manager ever. Sadly, he has never restored his confidence ever since as his brief Spanish episode proved.”
54 min Jones helps the ball over the defence for Defoe, who is fractionally offside. Not that it mattered, because Khazri bobbled a shot wide moments later.
51 min Sunderland definitely look better since half-time. They get a free-kick in a decent position for a cross, but Khazri’s delivery is flat and slow and Bellerin clears.
50 min Sanchez is being booed for clattering Djilobodji’s knee with his back.
49 min Another yellow card for Sunderland. This time it’s Djilobodji, for easing his knee into Sanchez’s back.
48 min A bright start from Sunderland. Ndong’s cross flashes across the face of goal, and then Watmore has Sunderland’s first touch of the ball in Arsenal’s box in the match. Crikey.
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47 min “Hawrite Rob!” chirps Ryan Dunne. “In fairness (although there’s much to love about all the post-Berry albums except for Around the Sun) REM did return to form when they ditched the experimentation and overelaboration and went back to basics with Accelerate. Maybe Wenger needs to bring back 4-4-2 and the occasional Tuesday Club.”
And the Back Four. I bet they could still keep clean sheets, even in their fifties.
46 min Peep peep! Sunderland begin the second half, kicking from right to left.
Half-time chit-chat
“Arsenal winning spoils my game of working out just how many different teams could take over the leadership this weekend, given timing of games,” says Jonathan Bradley.
There were three different Premier League leaders on the weekend of 16-18 January 1993: Norwich, Aston Villa and Manchester United. This knowledge does not fill me with pride at the memory of a teenage life well lived.
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Half-time reading
Half time: Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal
Peep peep! That was an extremely snug 45 minutes for Arsenal, who lead through Alexis’ excellent header. It’s hard to see how Sunderland can get back into this. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45 min Arsenal are playing some lovely football. They look so classy when they knock it around like this. After another nice move, Ozil’s dinked cross drifts just wide of the far post. Pickford had it covered.
44 min I think Coquelin landed heavily on his shoulder, hence the rollovers and screams. He’s back on the field now.
43 min “Also like REM, Arsenal struggled for over a decade to replace a retired rhythm section,” says Jack Felton. “Logically, then, Wenger will call it a day after one last decent little burst of energy, then become a self-deprecating part-time political commentator with a spectacular beard.”
42 min O’Shea is replaced by Papy Djilobodji.
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41 min Pienaar is booked for a foul on Coquelin, who rolls over like he’s enduring a near-death experience.
40 min More bad news for Sunderland: John O’Shea is going off injured. I think it’s his hamstring.
39 min “Dutch schemer Herz van Hier was always handy...” says Adam Hirst.”
38 min Pickford redeems his own error with a vital save from Ozil. Coquelin (I think) clipped a lazy pass over the top to put Ozil clear on goal. Pickford was in no man’s land again, near the edge of his area, but he was managed to reach high to his right to save Ozil’s lob. It was a slightly meek effort from Ozil.
37 min Sunderland are working hard to hold on to their one-goal deficit. It must be quite dispiriting to chase the ball like this for so long, knowing it’s almost certainly an extended exercise in futility. They just can’t get any attacking momentum whatsoever.
36 min “The semi-final winner might have been more important in the big picture, but you simply can’t talk about John O’Shea and Arsenal without mentioning that chip in the league,” says Matt Dony. “I’m no United fan, but that was one of the most glorious, hilarious, joyous moments I’ve ever seen on a pitch. Reprise today?”
His celebration was great too. He’s always been an extremely good finisher, certainly for a defender.
35 min Oxlade-Chamberlain mugs Khazri, scampers into the box and drives low towards the near post. Pickford holds on comfortably.
34 min “Just joined,” says William Hargreaves. “Would the Arsenal have scored more if Pickford wasn’t such a good mover?” He’s not as good as Vito Manandvan.
33 min Ndong is booked for taking a shortcut through Coquelin.
32 min Alexis clips it high over the bar.
31 min Khazri is booked for dragging down Ozil right on the edge of the area. “Alexis” will fancy this.
30 min It’s hard to know whether to take Arsenal seriously as title contenders. Like R.E.M., they have hailed their own return to form too often. We’ll have a much better idea after their next two league games: Spurs and Man Utd.
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28 min Arsenal are in complete control of the game, even though it feels like they are playing within themselves. Sunderland have been fine defence and midfield but they don’t look like scoring.
26 min Iwobi plays a one-two with Gibbs, shuffles infield and hits a decent curler just over the bar. Pickford had it covered mind.
25 min “I don’t even have a dubious stream to confirm it but it’s probably the Prostate Cancer UK symbol on Moyes’s lapel,” says Richard Gibbon. “Even if it isn’t it’s probably worth mentioning what excellent work they do anyway.” Ah yes, of course it is.
24 min Defoe has an acrobatic volley disallowed for offside against Khazri, whose cross he turned into the net. Khazri was miles off.
23 min Sunderland have just one problem in this game: they have to score a goal.
22 min 1-0 to the Arsenal? Quasimodo predicted all this.
21 min Khazri is fouled just outside the area, slightly to the right of centre. Van Aanholt clips the free-kick over the wall and just wide, though I think Cech had it covered.
GOAL! Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal (Alexis 19)
This has been coming, and it’s an excellent goal. Oxlade-Chamberlain beats Watmore with ease on the right and puts over a fine cross towards the centre of the six-yard line. Alexis moves one way and then the other, zipping in front of Kone to place a fine header into the corner.
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15 min Mustafi’s clipped pass forward puts Iwobi through on goal. He goes round Pickford, in no man’s land 15 yards from goal, but overruns the ball and Sunderland get a goalkick.
14 min Sunderland are starting to live on the edge a bit. Rodwell tries to usher a loose ball through to Pickford, panics when he feels Bellerin behind him and ends up trying to kick the ball out for a corner. It hits Pickford and rebounds to safety.
13 min The first chance for Arsenal. Sanchez finds Ozil on the right of the box with a superb angled pass. Ozil’s first touch is good but his second, an attempted pass into the far corner from a tightish angle, is too close to Pickford.
12 min This has been a strong, feisty start by Sunderland. They’ve shown no signs of creating anything but they have made life uncomfortable for Arsenal’s delicate footballers. Only 78 minutes’ hard labour left.
11 min “A close-up of Moyes reveals he’s sporting a lapel badge which looks exactly like the universal sign for the gents’ toilet,” says Charles Antaki. “Rob, you’re a journalist - why?”
Don’t throw words like ‘journalist’ at me.
10 min Arsenal haven’t really got going yet, but Gibbs wins a corner that Elneny flashes right across the face of goal.
7 min A decent move from Sunderland. Khazri finds the overlapping full-back Jones, whose dinked cross is claimed confidently by Cech.
5 min “Moyes is a good man and thorough but does he possess Allardyce’s very particular set of skills?” says Phil Podolsky. “Skills he has acquired over a very long career, skills that make him a nightmare for relegation rivals?”
Allardyce is a genius, and it’s such a shame that the internet got him sacked because he probably had a better chance of making the impossible job possible than anyone else. It’s harder to judge Moyes because he has only been a success at two clubs, and he’s not been in many relegation battles. I do think he’s an excellent long-term choice for Sunderland if they hold their nerve.
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4 min A deep cross from Bellerin is met by Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose header hits a Sunderland defender and loops onto the top of the net. The corner produces the square root of nowt.
3 min Nothing is happening at the moment. John O’Shea, the Sunderland captain, has come a long way since he scored the winning goal against Arsenal in a Champions League semi-final.
2 min Pickford’s clearance hits the hand of Sanchez, who betrays his transgression of the laws by wringing his hand in pain.
1 min After an immaculate minute’s silence for Remembrance Day, Arsenal kick off from right to left. They are wearing a blue strip with a yellow frisson; Sunderland have the old red-and-white stripes on.
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This email, from Vijayant Singh, is either genius or rubbish, don’t ask me which.
rod-dee-dob
dop-dippi-doo
pop-riddi-boo
wee davy
out to mess up wenger’s hair
An email! “Glad you referred to Moyes as excellent, as you’re quite right,” says Hubert O’Hearn. “The only thing I’d question about his judgment is his timing. Enough said about United, but even here with the Black Cats it’s unlikely to end well. I’m not trying to wind up the Sunderland supporters by referring to their arch-rival, however Moyes might have been much, much better off if he had taken charge of the club when they were already doomed, much as Rafa Benitez did with Newcastle. Then poor old David Moyes could have a year in the Championship to weed out his squad and build it back up out of the spotlight. Hope he still gets the chance - he’s a good man and deserves the opportunity.”
Good point that. Relegation is underrated.
‘Remember when...’ is the lowest form of conversation
Pre-match reading
“If I was a Sunderland fan, I wouldn’t be worried even if they had zero points,” says Shaun Wilkinson. “After the last four seasons, I firmly believe they could spend the entire season deliberately kicking the ball into their own net and still finish 17th.”
Team news
Sunderland (4-3-3) Pickford; Jones, Kone, O’Shea, Van Aanholt; Rodwell, Ndong, Pienaar; Watmore, Defoe, Khazri.
Substitutes: Mika, Djilobodji, Manquillo, Love, Gooch, Januzaj, Anichebe.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Gibbs; Coquelin, Elneny; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Iwobi; Alexis.
Substitutes: Ospina, Gabriel, Holding, Jenkinson, Ramsey, Giroud, Maitland-Niles.
Referee Martin Atkinson
Preamble
When Sunderland appointed the excellent David Moyes in the summer, it was expected that he would end their cycle of relegation escapes. And it looks like he will: on current form, they’ll be relegated by February. Yet there is some hope, perverse as it sounds, in the manner of their defeats. Most have been by one goal, often a very late goal. They aren’t a total shambles.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that they have two points from nine games, and there is already a significant danger that a false start will become a false season. If they lose today, they will equal the worst start to a Premier League season, made by Manchester City in 1995-96.
A narrow defeat is the likeliest outcome against an Arsenal side who have recovered well from the rank humiliation of losing a football match on the opening weekend of the season. They are second, behind Manchester City on goal difference as we move towards what should be the tightest middle lap of the title race since 2001-02.
Arsenal, who went on to do the Double, would be very happy with a repeat of that season. So would Sunderland: they finished 17th. That was not the plan when they appointed David Moyes, but they would take it now.
Kick off is at 12.30pm.
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