Arsenal v. Sunderland 2-0 20/Feb/10

Nicklas Bendtner scores after a magnificent pass from Eboue.
[Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images via Guardian]


In yet another rollercoaster ride for the title, the Gunners are again back for the thirtieth time on the title race as they beat the Black cats by a two goal difference. After the troublesome defeat at Porto and the slip of Man Utd at the hands of Everton, the path to title seems scratchy but more amicable. After the epic amount of games lost by Bruce's men, again the southern team did not disappoint with its current mediocre form at the Grove earlier this Saturday.
When the storm is yet to calm over the two unpredictable and childish errors of the Polish international, the match came handy for the Londoners. Games against Stoke, Burnley and Tottenham, pile up in the near future and the prospect of getting the maximum point from them is rather important.



Emmanuel Eboue, man of the match.
[Photo: Daily Mail]


The manager included Aaron Ramsey, Mikaël Silvestre, Emmanuel Eboué and Theo Walcott from the beginning. Aside from the speculation that this could bring, the Gunners did not show anything interesting during the following twenty minutes. Shots from Cesc, Nasri and Ramsey opened an early possibility for the Gunners. With Nasri creating havoc down the left side, there was no real intention for the visitors to pursue anything but a draw, if lucky.
This was emphasised when at the 27th minute, the big Dane broke the deadlock after an astonishing run down the right parcel by the Ivorian Eboué. From then on the Londoners enjoyed little but no resistance to find Gordon's goal. The Welshman provided that balance the team lacked in the absence of the striker; some stability and control to Song and Cesc, leaving the Spaniard free to charge forward when needed.
The match went on with plenty much to offer to the home team, as the Black Cats ventured to resume their attacking spree with two attempts on Almunia's goal. This unnecessary defensive frailties were kept down thanks to the lack of a real striking talent in the Sunderland ranks.



Cesc scores the second from the spot.
[Photo: Getty Images via Daily Mail]


While the Gunners had a rather astounding dominance on both flanks -Walcott and Nasri's- there were plenty of chances for earning another goal. One of them was a free kick delivered by Thomas Vermaelen which went directly to the Carson's hands. The fierce menace that the home team posed was reassured as Walcott, Cesc and Nasri made strikes.
Reaching an hour of game-time the Gunners were complacent enough to award some possession. This lead to an increasing effort of delivery which ended in Bent's blunder. Sunderland were poor in their finish since twice they had the time to equalise. Before the substitutions of Nasri and Walcott, the Londoners created several chances on target.
Although the power of the Arsenal attack was greatly diminished when the substitutions were made, charges by Emmanuel Eboué (now in a suitable right winger role) were the main threat throughout the rest of the evening, and particularly in the final minutes. In that span, Cesc found himself at the edge of the box and Campbell stumbled in an effort to regain the ball. Even when the tackle was not really harsh the referee awarded the Spaniard a penalty, who converted from the spot to finalise the contest.