Arsenal moved into fifth place in the Premier League table courtesy of a 1-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light this afternoon.
Santi Cazorla scored the only goal of the game as the Gunners held out for the win despite having Carl Jenkinson sent off in the second half.
Sunderland piled the pressure on in the closing stages but were denied by a string of fine Wojciech Szczesny saves and a collection of bad misses.
Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at an entertaining match at the Staidium of Light.
Match statistics:
Sunderland:
Shots 12
On target 7
Possession 44%
Corners 11
Fouls 6
Arsenal:
Shots 18
On target 9
Possession 56%
Corners 2
Fouls 13
Was the result fair?
Just about, yes. Arsenal were in control for the majority of the match and certainly deserved their lead at half time. They had chances after the sending off too, but it was then that Sunderland started edging their way back into it. It was all Sunderland in the last 10 minutes or so, however, so they will feel unlucky not to have got a point from this one.
Sunderland's performance
Martin O'Neill will be disappointed by his side's first-half performance as they failed to trouble Szczesny at all. The hosts were better in the second half, however, and dominated the closing stages of the match. They will, of course, be unhappy at losing to a team with 10 men, but there were plenty of positives for O'Neill to take from today's game.
Arsenal's performance
Typical Arsenal really. Fluid and exciting when going forward but still looking suspect at the back. They created plenty of chances, even after the red card, and should have scored more than one, but they have Szczesny to thank for them not conceding in the latter stages.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Wojciech Szczesny: This is quite a tough award to give as no player had an outstanding game, but the two goalkeepers put in the most notable performances. Simon Mignolet had the better of the first half but Szczesny pulled off some fine saves to secure the win for his side in the closing stages, so earns the man of the match.
Biggest gaffe
This has to go to Titus Bramble's miss. The gaffe-prone defender had a glorious chance to level the sides from a corner in the second half, but sliced his effort from right in front of the goal and sent it wide. This came just moments after he missed another chance, too.
Referee performance
Anthony Taylor had a strong game. He stamped his authority on it early on with two yellow cards inside the first 10 minutes, and kept that up throughout. He had no choice but to send Jenkinson off after the Arsenal man committed a poor tackle while already on a yellow card.
What next?
Sunderland: The Black Cats' next match comes against West Bromwich Albion in two weeks.
Arsenal: Arsenal face an FA Cup tie against Blackburn before hosting Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League tie.
Barney Corkhill
