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However, the Gunners were made to sweat after surrendering a two-goal lead against Roy Keane's side.

Van Persie gave them the lead with a thunderous free-kick on seven minutes before Philippe Senderos made it two before a quarter of an hour had been played.

Ross Wallace quickly pulled one back before Kenwyne Jones headed a fine equaliser. It was left to Van Persie to secure the point, stabbing in a terrific left-foot finish 10 minutes from time.

Sunderland defender Paul McShane was sent off in stoppage time, but it did not affect the result.

An intrepid few Sunderland fans made the 275-mile journey to north London in time for the midday kick-off, but were soon made to wonder if their Sunday might have been better spent washing the car or wallpapering the spare room.

The Gunners tore into the from the off, with Emmanuel Adebayor firing wide before 20 seconds were even on the clock.

In the sixth minute, Cesc Fabregas was brought down at the edge of the box and referee Rob Styles blew the whistle just before Abou Diaby was able to crack the ball into the top-left corner.

It looked like Sunderland had been given a lucky escape - until Van Persie stepped up and struck the free-kick with such power it nearly broke the crossbar before bouncing down into the goal.

Adebayor then tested the £9 million Craig Gordon - more expensive than most of Arsenal's star players put together - with a firm header.

From the resultant corner, Jones and Gordon failed to clear, and the ball was played back in for Senderos to bobble the ball unconvincingly into the corner.

Arsene Wenger's side were completely dominant and the game looked over almost before it has started. Diaby had another goal disallowed when he was his effort wrongly chalked off on 19 minutes for an offside against Mathieu Flamini.

The visitors grabbed an unlikely lifeline on 25 minutes when Jones latched onto a through ball and saw his effort blocked by Manuel Almunia, but Wallace was on hand to net the rebound.

Liam Miller then tested the Spaniard as Keane's side grew visibly in confidence.

Arsenal still had chances to put the game out of reach, however, with Van Persie unleashing another jet-propelled strike and Senderos heading wide while in a great position to score.

Jones levelled shortly after the break, rising majestically to meet a Miller cross and getting just enough power on the header to sneak the ball past Almunia.

The home side seemed bewildered that they had been pegged back and struggled to get a handle on the game, although Kolo Toure rattled the post with a 35-yard piledriver.

Only in the final quarter did they exert real pressure. The substitute Theo Walcott missed a golden opportunity before redeeming himself by setting up the winner.

He slid a ball into Van Persie's path on the right side of the box, and Van Persie produced a deft shot, almost toe-poking past Gordon.

McShane was sent off in the dying minutes for a tackle on Alex Hleb that was certainly clumsy but did not look malicious. The fact that he connected with both the midfielder's groin and his face might have persuaded Styles to reach for the red.

The Gunners are top and still have a game in hand on Manchester United, but showed signs of complacency and must be wary to fall into the trap of not putting away weaker opponents.

Alex Chick / Eurosport