FOOTBALL Live

Sunday October 7, 2007 Finished Emirates Stadium

Logo 3 - Logo 2

Arsenal

  • van Persie 7’, 80’
  • Senderos 14’

Sunderland

  • Wallace 25’
  • Jones 48’
  1. Van Persie magic lifts Arsenal

    Van Persie magic lifts Arsenal

    Two goals from Robin van Persie - including a late winner - helped Arsenal regain top spot in the Premier League with a 3-2 win against Sunderland. More

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Arsenal
    • Sunderland
    • 90' Arsenal return to the top of the Premier League, but they didn't half make a meal of that. 3-2 it finishes.
    • 90+5' Walcott off the post!! He drives a low angled shot from the right but it cannons back off the woodwork.
    • 90+4' Ian Harte secures himself a good 20 seconds of first-team football, coming on for Dwight Yorke.
    • 90+3' Arsenal look to run up the score as Adebayor hooks the ball past his man, races into the area and slides his shot... just wide. That was pure Thierry Henry until the finish.
    • 90' RED CARD!! Paul McShane goes in late on Hleb, managing to connect with the Belarussian in both the groin and the face. It was more clumsy than malicious, but you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end...
    • 88' Eboue sprints into the right side of the box and cracks a shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
    • 85' A standing ovation for two-goal Robin van Persie, who is replaced by Gilberto Silva.
    • 83' Sunderland go close again. Miller breaks through the middle but is denied by Almunia, and Jones drags the rebound wide! Arsenal living dangerously again.
    • 82' So close to three-all!! Almunia is nearly caught out by a dipping long-range effort from Anthony Stokes but does just enough to tip the ball over.
    • 80' GOAL!!! Arsenal back in front through Robin van Persie!! Walcott supplies him with a low ball from the right side of the box, and the Dutchman finds the net with a superb toe-poked effort. Superb finish.
    • 79' Wenger is up off the bench again as Adebayor is penalised for having his foot up. Surely he can have no complaints? Well, apparently he can.
    • 77' Terrible miss Theo Walcott! Fabregas finds Hleb on the left side of the box who beats two plays brilliantly and pulls back for Walcott, who completely mis-kicks. Van Persie then volleys wide from the edge of the area. But what a blunder from Walcott - the goal at his mercy.
    • 77' Double change from Sunderland - Dickson Etuhu and Anthony Stokes on for Ross Wallace and Michael Chopra.
    • 74' A long ball into the Sunderland box is headed down by Adebayor but Fabregas opts to pass towards Van Persie instead of shooting and the ball is cut out. Wrong decision.
    • 73' Classic wind-up tactics from Roy Keane. He beckons Jones over for some 'water', while dispensing an impromptu team talk - much to Wenger's fury. The Frenchman is rattled.
    • 71' Verily, Weng has a bee in his bonnet. He believes his players are not getting much protection from the referee. In truth, they haven't really been at the races since half-time.
    • 68' Sagna is the man who makes way for Eboue. A quarter of the game remaining.
    • 66' Emmanuel Eboue is stripping off over on the touchline. You might imagine he'll be on for Hleb, who was a bit of an injury doubt for this one. Or possibly Sagna.
    • 64' Fabregas is penalised for marginal contact on Dwight Yorke and reacts with a scowl. Turn that frown upside down, Mr Cesc.
    • 61' Dwight Yorke hits a low shot from 25 yards, but Almunia is equal to it, diving low to his right.
    • 59' TOURE!!! What a hit!! Has Arsene Wenger put springs in his players boots? The defender wallops a 35-yarder against the left-hand post. Gordon was nowhere near.
    • 58' Off goes Abou Diaby, who has played pretty well today. He is replaced by Theo Walcott.
    • 57' Shocking error by Gordon, who comes for the punch but misses completely. Nosworthy bails him out, belting the ball from off the line.
    • 56' Lovely angled ball down the line by Miller for Wallace, who wins a corner from Sagna on the Sunderland left. Leadbitter has a crack but it is held by Almunia low at the near post.
    • 54' Arsenal's eighth corner - Sunderland yet to get on the board in that category. Again nodded clear by Nyron Nosworthy.
    • 52' Pacy corner from Van Persie... headed away. Arsenal have renewed urgency to their game following that Jones leveller.
    • 50' Arsene Wenger shakes his head - how are his side not winning? He tends to do that - expressing incredulity when an 'inferior' team holds his. Get on and score a winner, Arsene.
    • 48' GOAL!! Kenwyne Jones!! He heads Sunderland level, leaping brilliantly to meet Miller's cross from the left and getting just enough power to beat Almunia - the keeper gets a touch but cannot keep it out.
    • 47' Good defending from Nyron Nosworthy to rise high and get his head on a Van Persie corner - but it will be another set piece for the home team. This one is caught easily by Gordon.
    • 46' We're back, and the second half begins as the first one ended - with Gunners pressure.
    • 45+3' Half-time at the Emirates, and Sunderland are still in this despite being completely outplayed for long periods.
    • 45+1' Arsenal are playing the ball around nonchalantly like it's an exhibition match - very pretty but a dangerous game when you're only one goal up.
    • 44' Long ball for Kenwyne Jones to chase, but there is an offside flag up against the Trinidad and Tobago man.
    • 42' It seems about 15,000 fans have decided it is time for a pie. You know they come with a balsamic glaze at Arsenal...
    • 39' Fabregas towards Adebayor who dummies for Van Persie, and for once the Dutchman produces a duff first touch. Arsenal keep possession though and continue to pass the ball around menacingly. Probing, I think it's called.
    • 36' Craig Gordon clears downfield. For those scoring at home, the £9m Scot cost more than Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy put together. Highly misleading, I know, but I'm just saying...
    • 33' Another Arsenal free-kick followig a foul on Diaby, 30 yards out. More Van Perise pyrotechnics? No, he leaves it for Fabregas, who curls a rather more considered effort just over.
    • 32' Should have been three! Senderos is presented with a free header at the back post from the corner but sends his attempt wide. Bad miss.
    • 31' Good Lord!! Another fearsome strike from the dynamite-booted Van Persie, who crashes one goalwards from range and Gordon tips it over.
    • 30' Leadbitter swings in a dangerous free-kick from the left and Toure rises high to head clear. The visitors really pressing now and anyone who was stupid enough to declare it 'game over' is looking pretty foolish right now.
    • 27' Clumsy tackle by Michael Chopra, and Rob Styles takes his name. Both Sunderland forwards have now been booked.
    • 26' Liam Miller!! He strikes a low volley from the edge of the box and Almunia is forced into a diving save to his left. What is going on?
    • 25' GOAL!!! Sunderland level out of nothing!! Kenwyne Jones latches on to a through ball and sees his effort blocked by Almunia, but Ross Wallace fires home the rebound and we have a game!
    • 22' Liam Miller looks to prod a through-ball to Grant Leadbitter on the right side of the Arsenal box, but overhits it. Sunderland have created nothing so far.
    • 19' Abou Diaby has the ball in the net again, but this time an offside flag is up against Mathieu Flamini. Rubbish decision, it should be 3-0. That's two disallowed goals for Diaby. Particularly bad news for a certain member of the eurosport.yahoo.com team who has the midfielder in his fantasy team. Not me. I've gone for Sebastian Larsson instead. Idiot.
    • 18' Roy Keane looks fairly put out, but not as miserable as the fans who made the 275 mile journey south this morning.
    • 16' The Arsenal faithful break into a song in honour of Patrick Vieira, and Fabregas responds by misplacing a pass - did he do that on purpose?
    • 15' A quarter of an hour gone, and the Gooners might as well return to their gastropubs and brasseries. It might seem a bit early to say 'game over', but it's game over.
    • 14' GOAL!!! It's two!! Jones and Gordon fail to clear an Arsenal corner properly, it is played back in and Senderos bobbles an inelegant left-foot shot into the corner! The Gunners absolutely rampant.
    • 13' Adebayor!! Rises high to meet a cross from the right, and his header is palmed over by Gordon! Good save.
    • 11' A rare foray into enemy territory for Sunderland with McShane down the right. His cross is punched away by Almunia - not entirely convincingly. Interesting that Jens Lehmann is not even on the bench despite having recovered fully from injury. He recently made some fairly cutting remarks about Almunia.
    • 9' An errant piece of showboating from Van Persie, who backheels a pass out of play. But there's no doubt Arsenal are enjoying themselves.
    • 7' KER-POW!!!! GOAL!! Robin van Persie absolutely hammers the free-kick and it ricochets in off the underside of the bar, which does well not to snap given the force of the shot. Amazing strike, and Arsenal get their just desserts. What a goal.
    • 6' Arsenal enjoying plenty of possession.. Fabregas is fouled and Diaby smashes the ball home!! But the whistle has already gone and the Gunners must settle for a free-kick. Unlucky.
    • 4' Clichy sells Almunia short with a backpass, and the Spaniard clears before the onrushing Kenwyne Jones slides right through him! Terrible tackle - yellow card.
    • 2' It's a full house despite this near-ungodly hour on Sunday. The well-heeled residents of Islington have polished off their Tuscan brunches nice and early, and have taken their places in the padded seats of the Emirates Stadium.
    • 1' Arsenal get us under way and are immediately on the attack with Cesc Fabregas. He slides a ball through for Adebayor who fires! Shoots wide but that is an early warning shot across the Sunderland bows.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage on a mammoth day of action in the Premier League. We have eight matches for you today, starting with in-form Arsenal against the team that has been officially renamed 'Roy Keane's Sunderland'.

  • Team Stats

    Arsenal Stats Sunderland
    59% Possession 40%
    18 Shots 13
    6 Shots on target 7
    0 Saves 0
    8 Corners 2
    9 Fouls 10
    3 Offsides 3
    0 Yellow cards 2
    0 Red cards 1
    22 Tackles 33
    426 Accurate passes 263
    56 Bad passes 41

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Arsenal
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      24 Manuel Almunia 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 1 0
      5 Kolo Toure 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 36 1 1
      22 Gaël Clichy 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 48 13 4
      3 Bacary Sagna 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 44 0 0
      6 Philippe Senderos 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 35 0 1
      16 Mathieu Flamini 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 56 8 3
      4 Francesc Fabregas 0 3 0 1 3 0 0 61 7 3
      2 Vasiriki Abou Diaby 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 15 3
      13 Alexander Hleb 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 45 6 5
      25 Emmanuel Adebayor 0 4 2 2 0 2 1 18 3 0
      11 Robin Van Persie 2 5 3 3 0 0 0 22 2 0
      26 Nicklas Bendtner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      21 Lukasz Fabianski 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      19 Gilberto Silva 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 2
      32 Theo Walcott 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 0 0
      27 Emmanuel Eboue 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0
    • Sunderland
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 Craig Gordon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 1 0
      6 Paul McShane 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 28 0 4
      15 Danny Collins 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 24 11 3
      14 Danny Higginbotham 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0 2
      5 Nyron Nosworthy 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 13 2 6
      19 Dwight Yorke 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 42 4 6
      12 Liam Miller 0 3 2 3 1 0 1 42 9 4
      18 Grant Leadbitter 0 3 1 1 0 0 0 27 3 3
      33 Ross Wallace 1 1 1 0 2 0 0 17 7 1
      16 Michael Chopra 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 18 0 4
      17 Kenwyne Jones 1 4 2 2 0 2 0 18 3 0
      9 Anthony Stokes 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
      4 Dickson Etuhu 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 1 0
      3 Ian Harte 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      23 Roy O'Donovan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      13 Darren Ward 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  • Summary

    • 90+5' Walcott off the post!! He drives a low angled shot from the right but it cannons back off the woodwork.
    • 90+3' Arsenal look to run up the score as Adebayor hooks the ball past his man, races into the area and slides his shot... just wide. That was pure Thierry Henry until the finish.
    • 90' RED CARD!! Paul McShane goes in late on Hleb, managing to connect with the Belarussian in both the groin and the face. It was more clumsy than malicious, but you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end...
    • 83' Sunderland go close again. Miller breaks through the middle but is denied by Almunia, and Jones drags the rebound wide! Arsenal living dangerously again.
    • 82' So close to three-all!! Almunia is nearly caught out by a dipping long-range effort from Anthony Stokes but does just enough to tip the ball over.
    • 80' GOAL!!! Arsenal back in front through Robin van Persie!! Walcott supplies him with a low ball from the right side of the box, and the Dutchman finds the net with a superb toe-poked effort. Superb finish.
    • 77' Terrible miss Theo Walcott! Fabregas finds Hleb on the left side of the box who beats two plays brilliantly and pulls back for Walcott, who completely mis-kicks. Van Persie then volleys wide from the edge of the area. But what a blunder from Walcott - the goal at his mercy.
    • 61' Dwight Yorke hits a low shot from 25 yards, but Almunia is equal to it, diving low to his right.
    • 59' TOURE!!! What a hit!! Has Arsene Wenger put springs in his players boots? The defender wallops a 35-yarder against the left-hand post. Gordon was nowhere near.
    • 57' Shocking error by Gordon, who comes for the punch but misses completely. Nosworthy bails him out, belting the ball from off the line.
    • 48' GOAL!! Kenwyne Jones!! He heads Sunderland level, leaping brilliantly to meet Miller's cross from the left and getting just enough power to beat Almunia - the keeper gets a touch but cannot keep it out.
    • 32' Should have been three! Senderos is presented with a free header at the back post from the corner but sends his attempt wide. Bad miss.
    • 31' Good Lord!! Another fearsome strike from the dynamite-booted Van Persie, who crashes one goalwards from range and Gordon tips it over.
    • 26' Liam Miller!! He strikes a low volley from the edge of the box and Almunia is forced into a diving save to his left. What is going on?
    • 25' GOAL!!! Sunderland level out of nothing!! Kenwyne Jones latches on to a through ball and sees his effort blocked by Almunia, but Ross Wallace fires home the rebound and we have a game!
    • 19' Abou Diaby has the ball in the net again, but this time an offside flag is up against Mathieu Flamini. Rubbish decision, it should be 3-0. That's two disallowed goals for Diaby. Particularly bad news for a certain member of the eurosport.yahoo.com team who has the midfielder in his fantasy team. Not me. I've gone for Sebastian Larsson instead. Idiot.
    • 14' GOAL!!! It's two!! Jones and Gordon fail to clear an Arsenal corner properly, it is played back in and Senderos bobbles an inelegant left-foot shot into the corner! The Gunners absolutely rampant.
    • 13' Adebayor!! Rises high to meet a cross from the right, and his header is palmed over by Gordon! Good save.
    • 7' KER-POW!!!! GOAL!! Robin van Persie absolutely hammers the free-kick and it ricochets in off the underside of the bar, which does well not to snap given the force of the shot. Amazing strike, and Arsenal get their just desserts. What a goal.
    • 6' Arsenal enjoying plenty of possession.. Fabregas is fouled and Diaby smashes the ball home!! But the whistle has already gone and the Gunners must settle for a free-kick. Unlucky.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE coverage on a mammoth day of action in the Premier League. We have eight matches for you today, starting with in-form Arsenal against the team that has been officially renamed 'Roy Keane's Sunderland'.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Rob Styles

  • Arsenal

    Manager: Arsene Wenger

    Captain: Kolo Toure

    On the Field

    • Almunia
    • Sagna
    • Toure
    • Senderos
    • Clichy
    • Hleb
    • Fabregas
    • Flamini
    • Diaby
    • Adebayor
    • van Persie

    Subs

    • Gilberto Silva
    • Eboue
    • Bendtner
    • Walcott
    • Fabianski

    Injured

    • Rosicky
    • Song
    • Eduardo

    Suspended

    None

  • Sunderland

    Manager: Roy Keane

    Captain: Dwight Yorke

    On the Field

    • Gordon
    • McShane
    • Nosworthy
    • Higginbotham
    • Collins
    • Leadbitter
    • Miller
    • Yorke
    • Wallace
    • Jones
    • Chopra

    Subs

    • Harte
    • Ward
    • Etuhu
    • Stokes
    • O'Donovan

    Injured

    • Varga
    • Cole
    • Richardson
    • Edwards
    • Whitehead
    • Anderson

    Suspended

    None