Premier League - Fabregas saves Arsenal

Eurosport - Sun, 05 Oct 09:55:00 2008

An injury-time header from Cesc Fabregas earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

FOOTBALL Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal - 0

Substitute Grant Leadbitter's stunning 86th minute strike had given the hosts the lead but the Spanish midfielder nipped in, three minutes into stoppage time, to nod home Robin Van Persie's corner.

A third League defeat of the season would have been tough on the Gunners who had a seemingly legitimate goal disallowed in the second-half when the assistant referee adjudged that Theo Walcott had taken the ball out of play before pulling it back for Van Persie to tap home.

Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon was at fault for the equaliser as he flapped badly at the set-piece but had earlier made a superb save from Van Persie.

Sub Nicklas Bendtner chipped through to the Dutchman but his well struck volley from ten yards was superbly saved by Gordon's outstretched left hand.

Just four minutes later Leadbitter sent the home crowd into raptures with a superb goal, just two minutes after coming on.

He wrestled possession from Alexandre Song and then unleashed a swerving shot that beat Manuel Almunia and went in off the underside of the crossbar.

Almunia made a fine early save when Walcott's woefully short backpass gave Djibril Cisse a sight of goal but the Spanish custodian came off his line quickly to smother the shot.

Almunia was called into action again to tip Cisse's 25-yard stinging diagonal drive over the crossbar as Sunderland started brightly with only a superb tackle by Kolo Toure preventing Dean Whitehead from reaching an astute pass by Steed Malbranque.

Arsenal improved as the half went on and Fabregas' long-range drive was well held by Gordon and the Scottish keeper also clawed away Walcott's fierce centre across the six-yard box.

Walcott and Denilson also screwed 25-yard shots wide of the far post while Andy Reid was unable to capitalise after finding space at the back post with Cisse's cross just a little too high for the Irish midfielder to control first time.

After the controversially disallowed goal on 56 minutes, Arsenal continued to press and Emmanuel Adebayor's volley was fumbled by Gordon only for Anton Ferdinand to clear before Kieran Richardson stung Almunia's palms with a 30-yard drive.

But a game that saw six yellow cards only exploded in the final stages with Fabregas' first goal of the season saving his team from a second League defeat in a week.

Lee Walker / Eurosport

Comment 74 - 93 of 113

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  1. To Rosenglish, the decision was analysed time after­ time on MOTD and Sky and it still is not certain­ whether it did or not. the assistant made a conscious­ decision on the spur of the moment, so get over it,­ you'll get some in your favour over the course of­ the season. By the way, I suppose Wenger (Winger) could­ see that one from where he was sitting, eh?? LOL

    From P, on Sun 5 Oct 8:02AM

  2. Well Well, its hard to score more goals if you collect­ opponets in big numbers in the box than the strikers,­ its no good to pass ball in box with over 7 players in­ the box defending. Otherwise arsenal lads should see­ Tevez,Rooney, C.Ronaldo, Tores & Grant Leadbitter­ for shooting lessons.haha haha

    From serugo, on Sun 5 Oct 7:19AM

  3. arsenal are losing there potential from the­ beginning.....

    From E, on Sun 5 Oct 6:46AM

  4. how can almunia dive to his left and swing a right hand­ at the ball, this is not the first time....he is­ dissappointing...

    From walkret, on Sun 5 Oct 6:15AM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    CAMERON W hE MAY BE THE WORST KEEPER AND THE SCUM HAVE­ THE BEST IN SHAY GIVEN. ITS THE OTHER TEN THE MAGS PUT­ OUT THAT ARE S%*TE . NJOY YOUR TRIPS TO DERBY ,­ COVENTRY ETC NEXT SEASON. WISE UP YOUR GOING DOWN.

    From TUSKA 08 FTM, on Sun 5 Oct 5:33AM

  6. Adebayor is an awesome defender for the other team :-)­ My grand mother would score more than him with those­ chances. Anyway, I agree with diddy p. Arsenal will win­ nothing with these players..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 5 Oct 5:01AM

  7. Arsenal will never win anything with these players

    From diddy p, on Sun 5 Oct 4:36AM

  8. I can understand some poor decisions in football when­ tackles are flying in etc but how can an assistant­ referee adjudge that the ball had crossed the line when­ it so obviously did not, was he unsighted or in a poor­ position and guessed wrong? Or did he make a concious­ decision to Cheat. This assistant referee should be­ looked into

    From Ronsenglish, on Sun 5 Oct 4:12AM

  9. I can understand some poor decisions in football when­ tackles are flying in etc but how can an assistant­ referee adjudge that the ball had crossed the line when­ it so obviously did not, was he unsighted or in a poor­ position and guessed wrong? Or did he mahe a concious­ decision to Cheat. This assistant referee should be­ looked into

    From Ronsenglish, on Sun 5 Oct 3:44AM

  10. cameron w is clearly a mag. calling sunderland­ supporters part timers when they couldn't even­ boycott a game properly, laughing stock of english­ football. there was 40,000 there today, our average­ last season was 39,000. Wenger should get fined for­ criticising other teams footballing style, just because­ pass and move didn't work against malbranque, yorke­ and reid

    From mark.b.lane, on Sun 5 Oct 1:02AM

  11. so tell me that guy under me
    who do u support??derby i­ suppose since u are such an idiot

    From Khaw, on Sun 5 Oct 12:20AM

  12. Arsenal ar showing that they have not got what it takes­ to win the premiership lets face it they couldn't­ even beat hull city...whats that about.....maybe they­ are just born losers!!!!!!!!!!

    From eddiebullet, on Sat 4 Oct 11:29PM

  13. Roy Keane was so smug when he thought he had beaten­ Arsenal. Still a point is a good result for them.­ Definate Van Persie goal. Lucky lucky Sunderland.

    From Mogger, on Sat 4 Oct 11:22PM

  14. Keane thought he had won. He was wrong.... He was­ wrong. Ha Ha ! !

    From sholdengowers, on Sat 4 Oct 11:10PM

  15. The English are @#$% without their continental­ buddies....end of

    From sappercommando25, on Sat 4 Oct 11:07PM

  16. We are not part-time supporters at the SOL, whereas at­ the Emirates it is more corporate. Have a look after­ half time and the middle tier is empty, still indoors­ eating prawn sarnies and drinking their champers

    From P, on Sat 4 Oct 11:03PM

  17. Just watched the game on MOTD and Wenger or is it­ WINGER??? moaning bout us defending all the time. If­ you're that good, its up to you to break us down.

    From P, on Sat 4 Oct 10:52PM

  18. Arsenal so lucky they get 4 minutes from the ref to­ come back after a paltry few substitutions, ha ha. The­ Londoners are in the FA's orifices its the only way­ they can get looked after and protected from­ unfashionable clubs. So great was the shock defeat by­ Hull pulled you down a peg. So many cards for nothing­ as well. Then the biased reporting by London monkeys­ with keyboards will try and make it look like the Cats­ nearly stole it. Claptrap. Oh and good spelling,­ fantastic english from all the "Argot"­ spouters. Tom.

    From Thomas, on Sat 4 Oct 10:44PM

  19. Well it's good to see the influx of Foreign­ language speakers is not just confined to the pitches­ of the premiership, it has reached the blog boards as­ well, "if you cannot spell do not tell" us­ your sorry tales of woe, and unlucky Aresenal the jammy­ Macams do it again
    Boro fan in Algeria

    From Mark S, on Sat 4 Oct 10:32PM

  20. we really need a big midfielder by january and a great­ defender,willam G need to be replaced,arsenal Boss­ suppose to know by now,Long live arsenal football­ club.Charmtoms Dublin

    From charmtomgrace, on Sat 4 Oct 9:19PM
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