In a game of two halves, ten men Arsenal successfully saw off the challenge of their hosts Sunderland at the Stadium of Light to claim all three points thanks to a solitary strike from Santi Cazorla.

A Tale of Two Halves

Whereas recently Arsenal have been notoriously slow starters, today it was the Gunners who took the initiative in the first half, playing some wonderfully constructed football that was reminiscent of earlier times under Wenger.

With Wilshere and Cazorla in full flow in the middle, Arsenal took control of the match creating numerous opportunities and should have had the game to bed by the time the referee blew his whistle for half time: Ramsey being the most guilty party after squandering an excellent chance from inside the six yard area.

However, with the injury of Jack Wilshere very early on in the second half, there was a clear swing in the match, made all the more obvious following Jenkinson’s sending off for two clumsy challenges.

Sunderland soon seized possession of the game, and at some points Arsenal players struggled to get the ball. Thankfully Arsenal held Sunderland at bay, and did manage to create some more chances later on in the match.

Impenetrable defence

Arsenal travelled up to the North East with a depleted defence, which was only made worse when Laurent Koscielny, who had just passed a late fitness test, was ruled out through injury.

This lead to a reshuffle with Sagna moving to centre back whilst Carl Jenkinson started at right back. However, in true old school Arsenal fashion, the defence proved to be impenetrable, even after Jenkinson was sent off on the hour mark for a second yellow card.

From Szczesny in goal showing a return to his top form, to Sagna playing a blinder in an unusual central defensive role, the whole team worked tirelessly to maintain the clean sheet, with even Giroud proving his use at the back.

Arsenal’s heartbeat

Following on from his man of the match performance for England against Brazil in midweek, Wilshere continued to show his improvement upon return from injury. Jack Wilshere played such an important role for Arsenal today, that you could really feel his presence as Arsenal’s heartbeat.

Everything we did went through Wilshere, and once he left the field injured you could really feel that Arsenal had lost the rhythm in their play. We can only hope that Wilshere is not out for Arsenal for too long.

Another player just as important for the Gunners is Santi Cazorla. If Wilshere is the team’s heartbeat, than Cazorla is the architect, being the man who creates the killer pass and the majority of the team’s chances. He capped off his fine performance today with an excellent match winning strike.

If these two can continue to play together, then they could become two of the most formidable midfield partnerships in the world.

Key Players

After being one of Arsenal’s most consistent players in recent years, Bacary Sagna has become somewhat unreliable in the past few months, putting in many below par performances for the team.

However, today he silenced his critics with a wonderful defence display out of position at the centre of defence. Everything which Sunderland threw at Arsenal, Sagna was there to clear and defend. Hopefully he can keep up these performances for the upcoming big matches we have against Bayern Munich.

Wojciech Szczesny is another Arsenal player who has been accused of playing poorly in recent matches; however, he also proved his credentials today keeping Arsenal’s lead with some fantastic play.

With Sunderland throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at Arsenal Szczesny made a handful of fantastic stops to maintain Arsenal’s clean sheet, and help the team over the line to victory.

A Pinch of Salt

Today in the second half, Arsenal were the poorer team against a Sunderland side which has been near the bottom of the table all season. While it is all good and well praising Arsenal’s defence (especially considering we were down to 10 men), it must not be forgotten that Sunderland are among the lowest scorers in the league, and against a more clinical team we would have been easily beaten.

Hopefully the team can take spirit from this victory and clean sheet, and it can help propel us into the top four of the league and progression through the FA Cup and Champions League.

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