Thierry Henry and Davor Suker - manager Arsene Wenger's only available
striking options - found the finishing touch just when it mattered most to bury
battling Sunderland in an absorbing Highbury thriller.
Two goals apiece by the fleet-footed Frenchman and the predatory Croat -
automatic choices while Dennis Bergkamp struggles to recover from a calf injury
and Kanu is away playing African Nations Cup football for Nigeria - took the
Gunners to joint second in the Premiership, level with Manchester United on
points and just one behind leaders Leeds.
It was a handsome victory but only the second in the last six games for
Wenger's team who have unsurprisingly faltered lately even though they have lost
only one of the their last 13.
It made for a sad return to Highbury for ex-Gunners Steve Bould, Stefan
Schwarz and Niall Quinn - even though the giant Irish striker scored his first
goal against his old team since leaving for Manchester City in the early 90s.
It turned out just a consolation effort because, by the time he pounced on a
fortunate deflection to stab home Michael Gray's cross two minutes after the
break, Arsenal were three goals to the good.
And although Sunderland were never prepared to throw in the towel and showed
at times just how far they have progressed since a drubbing at Chelsea on their
first day back in the top flight, they finally had to admit second best against
an Arsenal side that seems to respond best when the chips are down.
After successive flops against Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester they returned
to the style and power which demolished Leeds just after Christmas.
Henry and Suker grabbed the goals - eight in the last 11 games now for the
former Monaco and Juventus flyer and 11 all told for Croat Suker - but the
thundering commitment and colossal presence of French musketeers Patrick Vieira
and Emmanuel Petit in midfield were the decisive factors.
Arsenal simply stunned the Wearsiders with the quality of their finishing in a
breathless first half.
Henry should have put the Gunners ahead in the first 30 seconds, snapping onto
Vieira's through-ball which bisected central defenders Bould and Paul Butler but
drilling his drive into Sorensen's smothering embrace.
But the Danish keeper could not keep out Henry's next effort just two minutes
later, a whiplash shot after he had swerved away from Bould's challenge.
And yet Sunderland were the better side for the next 20 minutes even though
their fluid passing and movement was matched by the tigrish tenacity of Vieira
and Petit.
If Petit had been doubtful with flu before the kick-off - the bug actually
claiming fellow Frenchman Gilles Grimandi - it did not show. The pony-tailed
World Cup winner clattered into tackles, spread his passes like smooth
double-cream and was full of running despite his heavily-bandaged knee.
With 19-goal Kevin Phillips chasing every cause and firing at will whenever he
saw the whites of David Seaman's eyes, Sunderland seemed to be on the point of
getting back in the match when Suker took centre stage.
Silvinho had to make a desperate block to keep out Nicky Summerbee after
misjudging a Schwarz cross from the left. And Phillips was only just off the
mark with two long-range efforts.
But then came Suker - and his magic touch put Arsenal in command. His right
foot is just for standing on and let him down badly when Petit picked him out
with a glorious crossfield pass that promised a goal on a plate in the 25th
minute.
But Suker's left is something else. And when Vieira set him up two minutes
later he used it like a golfer's mashie niblick to loft an audacious lob over
Chris Makin and the helpless Sorensen to land it in the far corner.
Three minutes more and Henry's pace plus a delicious turn which took Paul
Butler out of the equation ended with a low cross which was practically an
invitation for Suker to slot home - with that trusty left foot of course.
When Quinn grabbed his chance just after the break it looked as though
Sunderland could still make a fight of it. Four League games without a win had
been followed by last week's controversial FA Cup crash at Tranmere but their
willingness, skill and character was never in question.
Yet Arsenal could have been in even more comfortable command had Vieira's
towering header not come back off a post following Petit's beautifully-flighted
free-kick and had Henry managed to convert two perfect crosses by Ray Parlour
and the sure-footed Brazilian Silvinho.
But nine minutes from the end it was all over when Bould, presented with a
memento before the kick-off by Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood in appreciation
of his long service at the Gunners, must have felt every one of his 37 years.
Henry left him for dead with a deft control of Lee Dixon's pass, a spin away
from his veteran marker, and an immaculate finish.
Teams
Arsenal: Seaman, Dixon, Keown, Silvinho, Luzhny, Parlour,
Vieira, Petit, Ljungberg (Malz 31), Henry (Barrett 83), Suker.
Subs Not Used: Winterburn, Manninger, Hughes.
Goals: Henry 3, Suker 27, 32, Henry 81.
Sunderland: Sorensen, Makin (Williams 61), Bould, Butler, Gray,
Summerbee (Kilbane 71), McCann, Roy, Schwarz, Phillips, Quinn.
Subs Not Used: Marriott, Rae, Craddock.
Booked: Makin, Roy.
Goals: Quinn 46.
Att: 38,039
Ref: P Alcock (Halstead).
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