Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal: Second Straight Defeat For O'Neill's Side

play video

Sky Bet

Sunderland suffered a second straight Premier League defeat as they went down 1-0 to Arsenal.

Santi Cazorla’s first half drive was enough to condemn Sunderland to defeat and leave them without a league win in three games.

The Gunners were terrific in the first half and were rewarded when Cazorla struck on 35 minutes following a flowing move.

Jack Wilshere had to be replaced just after the interval due to injury and Carl Jenkinson's dismissal allowed Sunderland to start dominating, but Wojciech Szczesny and Bacary Sagna led a magnificent rearguard effort as Arsenal boosted their hopes of a top-four finish.

Sunderland battled hard in the early stages to try and stop Arsenal finding any fluency, but it did not take Wilshere and Cazorla long to start dictating play with their expert touch and vibrant movement.

Simon Mignolet had to pull off a series of saves to keep Sunderland on level terms, with one particularly athletic dive to his left to parry away Aaron Ramsey's strike from 20 yards.

The Gunners were not to be denied, though, and Cazorla opened the scoring with ten minutes remaining of the first half when he arrowed a low shot through a crowded area after being fed by Theo Walcott.

Ramsey should have made it 2-0 just before the interval after being played in by Olivier Giroud, but Mignolet rushed off his line to make another wonderful stop from point-blank range.

Wilshere's 50th-minute departure after he was fouled by Alfred N'Diaye removed one threat for the home side, but added Abou Diaby's physicality to the mix.

Sunderland should have been back on terms just before the hour mark when Ramsey was caught in possession on the halfway line to allow Stephane Sessegnon to race upfield and lay the ball into Fletcher's path. The Scotland international looked odds-on to take his tally to the season to 11, but uncharacteristically sliced his left-foot effort wide of the post.

Sunderland received a boost in the 62nd minute when Jenkinson, who had been booked for a ninth-minute foul on Jack Colback, scythed Sessegnon down and received a second yellow card.

Black Cats boss Martin O'Neill went for broke with 22 minutes remaining when he sent on Danny Graham, but Arsenal continued to pose a threat as Diaby and Cazorla went close and Walcott hit the post after chipping an effort over the advancing Mignolet.

Per Mertesacker's 78th-minute blunder handed Fletcher another golden opportunity, but Szczesny was equal to the task, and the Poland international produced another excellent save five minutes from time to keep out the Scot's goalbound header.

Defender Titus Bramble could have snatched a point seconds later, but he could not direct his close-range effort at goal and Szczesny kept out Adam Johnson's injury-time effort with another good save.

Sky Go Additional Benefits

Your comments

More from Sunderland AFC

Related tags: Sport

Related tags: Football

Related tags: Sunderland

Barclays Premier League

Pos Team P Pts
15 Fulham 37 40
16 Aston Villa 37 40
17 Sunderland 37 39
18 Wigan Athletic 37 35
19 Reading 37 28

Fixtures & Results

April

Barclays Premier League - Sun 7
FT Chelsea 2-1 Sunderland
Barclays Premier League - Sun 14
FT Newcastle 0-3 Sunderland
Barclays Premier League - Sat 20
FT Sunderland 1-0 Everton
Barclays Premier League - Mon 29
FT A Villa 6-1 Sunderland

May

Barclays Premier League - Mon 6
FT Sunderland 1-1 Stoke City
Barclays Premier League - Sun 12
FT Sunderland 1-1 Southamptn
Barclays Premier League - Sun 19
16:00 Tottenham - Sunderland

Most popular

Related Links