Friday 12th of March 2010
| Remaining games in the title race: Sat 13 March Hull (A), Sat 20 March West Ham (H), Sat 27 March Birmingham (A), Sat 3 April Wolves (H), Sat 10 April Sp*rs (A), Sun 18 April Wigan (A), Sat 24 April Man City (H), Sat 1 May Blackburn (A) and Sun 9 May Fulham (H). |
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Match Reports Match Reports Sunderland 1 Arsenal 0
Match Reports Match Reports Sunderland 1 Arsenal 0
22 Nov 2009 |
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| Arsenal crashed to their first defeat in two months as the Gunners fired blanks at the Stadium of Light. The Londoners started the brighter of the two teams, but their killer final ball or the finishing touch was missing and the hosts managed to somehow keep a clean sheet from what the away side threw at them. Once again it was the fortunate Darren Bent who popped up with the decisive strike to seal the victory for the Black Cats. There was a huge slice of luck about the strike which saw the Black Cats claim their second top-four scalp of the season on Wearside, and this time there wasn't a beach ball in sight. Bent got lucky against Rafa's Reds when his shot hit the now infamous inflatable to wrong-foot Pepe Reina and score. This time there was no beach ball, but once more the bounce favoured Bent as he put Sunderland on the road to victory on 71 minutes. The striker got up to meet Andy Reid's corner, but headed well wide. The effort hit team-mate Fraizer Campbell and bounced back towards Bent, who slid in ahead of Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia to poke the ball home. After that the Wearsiders were forced on to the back foot as the Londoners tried to get back into the game with wave after wave of attacking football but with no end result. Arsenal will no doubt feel justifiably aggrieved that they weren't awarded a certain penalty in time added on but Alan Wiley bottled the decision so spectacularly that he is in danger of being dropped from next weeks Premier League fixtures once it is reviewed by the referees association over the next few days. Substitute Carlos Vela made the most of it but that does not warrant Alan Wiley once again getting an Arsenal penalty decision wrong yet again, there was definite contact with the Mexican and Sunderland sub Campbell, but referee Alan Wiley waved away the spot kick for a reason no one as yet knows why. When will referees get it that they are there to apply the law not interpret it to their own satisfaction. A foul is a foul no matter where it takes place on the field of play and it shows that referees have no moral fibre at all when they so blatantly refuse to play to the letter of the law then a case for them to hold on to their badge must be questioned. The Black Cats broke immediately and Armand Traore picked up a yellow card for a full bodied challenge on Kieran Richardson. Sunderland were not worthy of their success, having taken little of the game to Arsene Wenger's men and Arsenal will feel as though they have been harshly treated again as the hosts struggled to get the ball from their opponents for the majority of the match. The silky fast-flowing football you expect from Arsenal was lacking a final cutting edge, although the visitors almost went ahead on six minutes, but Marton Fulop saved with his legs to deny Tomas Rosicky. Cesc Fabregas also went close in the opening 15 minutes, while just after the half-hour mark Eduardo hooked the ball just wide of the target. Sunderland's first-half opportunities were kept at a premium, although Steed Malbranque had two good chances to fire his side in front but blasted high and wide of the goal both occasions. Wenger rang the changes once the Gunners went behind bringing on Vela and Theo Walcott to try to add to his attacking options. But Sunderland somehow survived the onslaught and the penalty claim, notching up yet another impressive home win in the process. At times the hosts struggled to wrestle possession from the Gunners, who while not at their flamboyant best, posed a real threat. On several occasions their brand of quick-flowing football threatened to undo the Sunderland defence at will but the Londoners should have gone in front as early as the sixth minute, but Rosicky's effort was well saved by Fulop even if he didn’t know that much about it, who started in place of the injured Craig Gordon. On 13 minutes, Fabregas also fired just over the bar from 20 yards out, and the visitors went even closer just after the half-hour mark. Eduardo fired just wide of the target after an exquisite exchange of passes with Alex Song, who then tried to get on the end of the shot and guide the ball home, but couldn't connect. While Arsenal had the better of the first-half chances, it wasn't as if the Wearsiders were being outclassed, it was just that they didn’t have the ball much to do anything with it.. While there wasn't a huge abundance of goal-scoring chances for either side, you never felt like the clash would end goalless, and so it proved as Lady Luck shone on Bent, but not before the Sunderland frontman was denied by Almunia. In the end though he did get his lucky break, and the vast majority of the 44,918 crowd will have gone home happy with a undeserved victory and 3 points that Arsenal deserved. |
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