Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland: Sam Allardyce rues missed chances in best performance

The Gunners have had a awful run lately in the Premier League failing to win a match for quite some time now and Arsene Wenger will be desperate to turn it around and get 3 points.

Sunderland squandered a glorious chance after three minutes when Fabio Borini was played through on goal, however the Italian failed to beat the on-rushing Petr Cech.

The Frenchman managed to atone in the second half when, to his obvious relief, he scored a diving header from an Aaron Ramsey, propelling Arsenal back in front.

Still, they climb to second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Leicester.

With Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla out injured, Ramsey moved into central midfield while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made his first start since returning from injury. He talked about games against Norwich and West Bromwich Albion, where Arsenal had problems with confirming their domination on the pitch.

“It is a very frustrating day for us”.

The Black Cats, under Allardyce, have won three of their last five games, and are now two points clear of the drop zone.

“It was not ideal, of course, but the team has shown mental strength because we scored an own goal just before half time, but we have recovered to win the game”.

I was encouraged by the performance, but saddened that the players didn’t have their shooting boots on. Campbell didn’t do much apart from that, but he should get a few more chances and if he keeps on scoring, he could well be at Arsenal next season as well.

Sam Allardyce has told the Sunderland Echo the only thing that let Sunderland down against Arsenal was the manner in which they defended the first goal. “I knew Sunderland would be strong on free kicks and counter attacks and it was important that we dealt with that”. “We missed a very good chance inside the first 15 minutes and when those appear you need to grab them”.