Sunderland 0 Arsenal 2: Alexis Sanchez double does little to quell fan unrest on WearsideIt was a win that will do little to appease those who feel Arsène Wenger is no longer the right manager for Arsenal, yet it was the sort of victory his side were once criticised for not being able to achieve. Arsenal did not play particularly well. They did not have to against a Sunderland side trying to tighten things up after their humiliating 8-0 defeat at Southampton last weekend.
The home side did not put Arsenal under the sort of pressure that has made them buckle in the past. Sunderland did not try to test Arsenal's makeshift centre-back Nacho Monreal in the air, or on the ground. They did not even really get in the faces of the visitors from London.
Sunderland were subdued and Arsenal did what they needed to do. They controlled possession, pressed high up the pitch, took the lead and held on to it. They struggled to score a second goal after Alexis Sanchez had given them the lead in the first half after a mistake by Wes Brown, but the Chilean eventually added it when gifted another opportunity by goalkeeper Vito Mannone.
This was as comfortable a win as you are going to get away from home in the Premier League. The one worry for Wenger was another injury to a defender, as Kieran Gibbs limped off in the second half.
Dominating possession has not been a problem for any Arsenal side under Wenger, but they are not clinical enough with it. This was no different.
For all of their comfort against Sunderland, they needed a horrendous error to take the lead. Wes Brown has been one of Sunderland's most reliable players for the last 12 months, but he was hauled off at half time against Southampton and probably wished he had not kept his place in the starting line up here.
A long, straight ball by Per Mertesacker from deep inside Arsenal's half needed the sort of simple clearance Brown has been making since he was a schoolboy defender at Fletcher Moss Rangers in Manchester.
Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez was close to him, but not close enough to make a player of Brown's experience panic.
That, though, was precisely what he did, hurrying an attempted back pass to Vito Mannone. The connection with the ball was feint rather than firm and it ended as a perfectly-weighted through ball for the Chilean.
Mannone came off his line, Sanchez calmly lifted the ball over the goalkeeper as he dived at his feet. The closest Arsenal had come to a goal before that was a shot from Danny Welbeck from the edge of the area, which dipped narrowly over.
After Sanchez's goal, the visitors did almost create a second when he slid a pass through for Calum Chambers to run on to behind the Sunderland defence. The angle did not favour the Arsenal player, though, and Mannone made a good save by narrowing it further. Sunderland's supporters had little to get excited about.
Their team did not manage a shot on target in the first-half and the biggest cheer came when Adam Johnson's beat two Arsenal players with a neat trick. He was closer to the halfway line than Arsenal's goal, which summed up Sunderland's lack of a goal threat.
Arsenal's north London neighbours had also toyed with their hosts on Wearside earlier in the season, but left with only a point after failing to possession into chances.
The visitors needed a two-goal cushion to relax, something Sunderland reminded them of when Jack Rodwell met a Seb Larsson cross with a downward header that could have been more awkward for Wojcech Szczesny.
Arsenal did not have quite the same control of the game after the break. They were fortunate, though, that as hard as Sunderland tried, they have severe limitations going forward Welbeck might have scored a second for Arsenal with a header from Monreal's cross, Santi Cazorla definitely should have.
Sunderland could not make the most of Arsenal's failure to kill them off and when Mannone failed to clear first time, Sanchez stole the ball and scored an injury-time second for the Arsenal.
