Source: Daily_Mail
Arsenal 2 Sunderland 0: Wenger can smile as he takes peek at the summit
At the close of a frenzied week which saw him lose both his temperand his dignity, Arsene Wenger was back in familiar reflective mood.[LNB]'I don't remember another title race like this', he said. 'Tomorrow,you will read that Chelsea will win the championship. But sport ismovement. What seems right today can be very different in three weeks'.[LNB]Wenger picked his words with caution, but he could not disguise his ambitions. For suddenly, improbably, Arsenal are within shouting distance of thesummit. And a season which has spluttered and staggered is finallystarting to soar.[LNB] Spot on Cesc Fabregas ensures the victory[LNB] [LNB]Wenger's side were strangers to their finest form, but the victory is critically important, and the shadow of a smile across his gaunt features spoke of warm relief and renewed expectations.[LNB]Not until Cesc Fabregas thumped in a penalty in added time could Arsenal be truly confident of clinging to the first-half lead which Nicklas Bendtner had supplied.[LNB]That belated penalty could be seen as appropriate punishment for some ugly, and largely unpenalised, Sunderland tackling. In this case, it was a simple trip by Fraizer Campbell on Fabregas as Arsenal assembled a threatening break. The relief which hissed around the Emirates was evidence of the fans' slender confidence in their team's ability to settle matters.[LNB]But if Arsenal were less than convincing, Sunderland's plight grows more serious by the week. They have not achieved a League win since beating Arsenal in November, and Steve Bruce is openly speaking of his frustration.[LNB]'I think I've had more chances today than in all the years I've been coming here as a player and manager', he said. The exaggeration was pardonable, the anxiety intense.[LNB]And he had a point. Denied adequate possession and forced to exist on scraps, the strikers Kenwyne Jones and Darren Bent feebly fumbled the rare chances which were organised for them. Bruce is making brave noises, but he knows he is undergoing perhaps the most searching test of his managerial career.[LNB] Tap in: Nicklas Bendtner knocks in from close range[LNB][LNB]Arsenal's first-half performance was an extended cameo of their entireseason. Allowed an absurd preponderance of possession, they used itself-indulgently. The extra pass became the frustrating norm, and whileSunderland were frequently bewildered, they were rarely overrun.[LNB]TODAY'S TEAMSArsenal (4-1-4-1): Almunia; Eboue (Denilson 89min), Vermaelen, Silvestre, Clichy; Song; Walcott (Sagna 78), Fabregas, Ramsey, Nasri (Rosicky 72); Bendtner. [LNB]Subs (not used): Vela, Fabianski, Traore, Campbell. Booked: Fabregas.[LNB]Sunderland (4-4-2): Gordon; Hutton, Turner, Mensah, McCartney (Bardsley 85); Campbell, Richardson (Zenden 76), Ferdinand, Cana; Bent, Jones (Benjani 78). [LNB]Subs (not used): Bardsley, Malbranque, Da Silva, Carson, Kilgallon. [LNB]Booked: Turner, Richardson, Cana, Mensah, Ferdinand.[LNB]Referee: S Bennett (Kent). [LNB]Indeed, when they managed to get through to Arsenal's back four, they often exposed its fragility. The story was told inside a four-minute spell.[LNB]In 16 minutes, Theo Walcott's pace unhinged George McCartney, but Walcott's failure to lift his chin from his chest saw the chance dissolve. The incident was sadly typical of the young man's afternoon.[LNB]A minute later, Bendtner was allowed an even easier chance from a dozen yards, but he slapped at the shot and saw it rear off McCartney and on to the Sunderland bar. But the threat of retaliation was always lurking, and in 20 minutes one such Sunderland break-out should have resulted in success for Campbell.[LNB]It took Arsenal 27 minutes to find the goal they were seeking, and when it came, it was an enviably simple event. Emmanuel Eboue ran at a befuddled defence before playing a low, diagonal ball to the far post. Given the most acceptable of chances, Bendtner duly accepted it.[LNB]Arsenal's task might have become very much more comfortable in 34 minutes, when Sunderland's captain Lorik Cana launched an appalling two-footed assault on Eboue and took a yellow card when it probably merited red.[LNB] In the hunt: Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue puts Arsenal within two points of Manchester United[LNB] [LNB]Still Arsenal could not kill off the challenge, and they almost paid a price, with Kieran Richardson winning a ball at halfway and rolling his pass into the run of Jones. The striker ran on alone, awaited the keeper's advance, then rolled his shot a yard past a post.[LNB]The pattern was maintained in the second 45 minutes, Sunderland's tackling becoming more harsh as their cause grew more urgent.[LNB]In Alex Song, Arsenal had a holding midfielder capable of reading the play, breaking up attacks and offering critical support to his back four. Yet still Sunderland created chances, the best of them falling to Bent in 65 minutes, when he struck the keeper's legs, and Campbell nine minutes later, when he missed expensively from in front of goal.[LNB]'That's the Premier League', said Bruce. 'Sometimes it's very unforgiving'.[LNB]He is left to glance apprehensively over his shoulder. As for Wenger, he is looking in a quite different direction. [LNB] Incompetent! Wenger launches stunning attack on refereeMan City eye £24m Yaya... but Barca star to lure Arsenal jewel FabregasUnder-fire Sunderland boss Bruce confident he has Black Cats backingARSENAL FC
