Sunderland vs Arsenal match report: Alexis Sanchez on target twice for the Gunners

Sunderland 0 Arsenal 2

(Getty Images)

A week after the calamitous defending that struck Sunderland players hard in the pocket for their 8-0 capitulation at Southampton, old habits returned to haunt Gus Poyet’s team as Arsenal reaped the benefit.

Arsenal had dug deep in Anderlecht to fashion a late, dramatic 2-1 victory in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Here was an opportunity to arrest a quite alarming run of one win in 21 Premier Leagues games for Sunderland against Arsenal. It was not that the chance was missed which frustrated Poyet. It was the manner of the defeat. After a week of trying to exorcise the demons of St Mary’s, his players, who refunded the fans for their trip to Southampton, self destructed again.

Sunderland have beaten only Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League in 2014. Defeat left them fourth bottom of the Premier League, and fighting relegation again. Wes Brown and Vito Mannone were integral to achieving safety last season, but the errors that helped injury-hit Arsenal to victory came from those two.

Mannone was inconsolable as he walked off the pitch. Poyet said in midweek that he would allow a player a second chance. The former Arsenal goalkeeper may have wasted his. Sunderland’s back-up goalkeeper, Costel Pantilimon, is an imposing figure to be sitting on the sidelines.

Sunderland’s brittle confidence did not need testing by the kind of basic error that handed Arsenal the lead right on the half-hour mark.

A long clearance from Per Mertesacker looked routine enough for Brown, a former England international. The defender brought the ball down with his right foot, the problem then came in the execution of his second touch. Brown attempted a simple enough back pass with his right foot to Mannone, whose confidence is not exactly sky high.

Instead, the connection was poor and the ball rolled well short of the Sunderland goalkeeper. Alexis Sanchez appeared, seemingly from nowhere, racing all alone towards the Sunderland goal. He took three touches to get to the edge of the Sunderland area. Mannone stayed rooted to his penalty spot, and the calmness with which Sanchez chipped his finish low to the keeper’s left, was sublime. Arsenal were never truly fluent in their play, but there were still chances for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck and the most profligate of their number, Santi Cazorla.

Arsène Wenger raged in his technical area towards the end of the second half when another break ended with a misplaced cross from Hector Bellerin. “I was getting irate,” he said. “It can happen. Sunderland were focused to defend because they conceded many goals last week.”

Then errors from Mannone and Sunderland midfielder Will Buckley eased Wenger’s side to victory. Buckley should have done better than to pass the ball to his goalkeeper with Sanchez prowling. Mannone touched the ball with his right foot and then, panicking, attempted to poke it with his other foot as the Chilean pounced. Sanchez accepted his second goalscoring gift as he again chipped the ball into the Sunderland goal.

“Sanchez took advantage of the mistakes they made,” said Wenger. “He has super qualities. He has quick feet. That is why he [scores] many goals. We wanted the points. We got them. I’m happy.”

The opposite was true for Poyet. It was another crushing defeat. Morale is disappearing and the crowd jeered at full-time.

“There is anger in the dressing room,” said Poyet. “You can see today Arsenal were better than us and had the ball more, but take the two mistakes away and the commitment and reaction and desire and organisation compared to last week were there.

“It is about character more than anything. I wouldn’t like to accept it but I have to. Can I train it [self belief and character]? No, I don’t think so. Be brave and believe you can win. I will assess everyone’s mood this week.”

Sunderland (4-1-4-1): Mannone; Vergini, O’Shea, Brown, Van Aanholt; Cattermole; Buckley, Larsson, Rodwell (Gomez, 74), Johnson (Altidore, 74); Fletcher (Wickham, 51).

Arsenal (4-4-2): Szczesny; Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal, Gibbs (Bellerin, 74); Arteta (Ramsey, 88), Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Rosicky, 90), Cazorla; Sanchez, Welbeck.

Referee: Kevin Friend.

Man of the match: Sanchez (Arsenal)

Match rating: 7/10