Sunderland defender Paulo da Silva will let his football do the talking after helping to mastermind high-flying Arsenal's downfall.

The 29-year-old Paraguay international is rapidly establishing himself as yet another crowd favourite at the Stadium of Light after successfully managing the transition from Mexican football with Toluca to the Barclays Premier League.

On Saturday, he turned in a fine individual display as he and fellow summer arrival John Mensah managed to keep an Arsenal side shorn of injured dangermen Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner at bay with the minimum of fuss to lay the foundation for a famous 1-0 victory.

Da Silva arrived on Wearside with little or no English and four months on, his communication skills remain limited.

However, on the pitch, he is fluent in the language of football and has made such an impact £8million man Anton Ferdinand was reduced to the bench for the Gunners' trip north despite Michael Turner's suspension.

Da Silva said: "I have very little English, but in the game, it is not difficult. 'Man on!' and things like that - for me, that vocabulary is no problem.

"But maybe in two months, I will speak English much better."

Bruce, who has established something of a reputation for unearthing previously unheralded talent - skipper Lorik Cana has already achieved cult hero status - was delighted with Da Silva's authority against a side which started the day in second place in the table.

He said: "Paulo was absolutely tremendous. In my experience with all the South Americans, they take time to adapt and adjust and get used to the north-east - it takes me long enough!

"But he is an outstanding defender and I thought he was magnificent in his overall performance.

"And the good thing about him is he is never rash, he is calm and a very, very good defender. He was excellent."

Even without Van Persie and Bendtner, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was able to field a starting line-up packed with individual talent - Tomas Rosicky and Samir Nasri lined up behind lone striker Eduardo, while skipper Cesc Fabregas was never very far from the action.

But although the visitors started brightly, they simply could not make the pressure tell.

Rosicky forced a fine fifth-minute save from keeper Marton Fulop and Fabregas blasted a long-range effort inches wide as title hopefuls threatened to overwhelm the hosts.

However, with Da Silva and Mensah holding firm, the storm abated, and it was Sunderland who started to force the pace as the game wore on.

And while there was an element of fortune about their winning goal, which arrived 19 minutes from time, it was difficult to argue they were not worth their victory.

Striker Darren Bent got his head to Andy Reid's left-wing corner, but could only direct the ball against the legs of team-mate Fraizer Campbell.

But when it ricocheted back into his path, Bent was quickest to react to blast his ninth goal of the season past keeper Manuel Almunia.

Da Silva said: "They are fantastic players - [William] Gallas and [Cesc] Fabregas and [Theo] Walcott - they are fantastic players.

"But Sunderland played a very clever game. We put pressure on them and got a fantastic result."

Wenger was convinced his side should have been awarded an injury-time penalty for a challenge on substitute Carlos Vela, but admitted they did not put Sunderland under enough pressure as they failed to score for the first time this season.

He said: "That's more worrying because I believe going forward especially, we lacked sharpness and desire to go behind the defenders.

"We chose the easy part of the game, that is to always come to the ball, and not to expose them with our pace in behind.

"In football if you want to score goals, you have to go behind the defenders.

"I didn't feel really under threat from Sunderland. If you look at what they created, you would be surprised how little they created.

"But they took their chance because they had someone who wanted it more than us."

Arsenal will attempt to bounce back in the Champions League on Tuesday evening when Standard Liege head for the Emirates Stadium with Chelsea due to make the short trip to north London in the league next weekend.