Arsenal got their title pursuit back on track with a 3-1 victory over Sunderland on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger's Gunners conceded an own-goal on the stroke of half-time but were able to overcome Sam Allardyce's improving Black Cats at the Emirates Stadium.
Joel Campbell opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a quality finish from another stellar Mesut Ozil through ball before Olivier Giroud inadvertently directed Yann M'Vila's free-kick into the back of his own net.
Petr Cech had a fair bit to do throughout against an unlucky Sunderland outfit who were made to pay when Giroud headed Aaron Ramsey's chipped ball beyond Costel Pantilimon in the 63rd minute.
That led to a third goal for the home side which came in the form of Ramsey firing home in injury time to see Arsenal moved to second where they sit two points behind leaders Leicester City.
For Sunderland, it was another decent display under Allardyce but their profligacy forced them to endure their ninth defeat of the campaign which saw them drop back to 19th.
MATCH OVERVIEW
Arsenal: 3 (Joel Campbell 33', Olivier Giroud 63', Aaron Ramsey 90+1')
Sunderland: 1 (Olivier Giroud (OG) 45')
Emirates Stadium, London - 59,937
TALKING POINTS
- Arsenal's title hopes still very much alive after Man City were beaten and Man Utd drew. Could this finally be their year?
- Sunderland were ok, providing enough chances, but couldn't stick it past Cech. Does Allardyce need a quality striker in January?
WHAT'S NEXT?
Arsenal face a must-win encounter with Olympiakos in the Champions League on Wednesday before focusing their attention on bottom-placed Aston Villa on Sunday.
Sunderland will host Watford on Saturday as they look to moved out of the bottom three.
TWITTER INSIGHT
Good grind today, that's a big 3 points! Nice to get a goal and assist! Now to focus on a massive game on Wednesday pic.twitter.com/rhg05vlcO5
— Aaron Ramsey (@aaronramsey) December 5, 2015Good to bounce back positively and get the win today. Now we focus on the big Champions League game! #COYGpic.twitter.com/PAgu3zGoSW
— Héctor Bellerín (@HectorBellerin) December 5, 2015PIC: The Lads head over to thank the sold-out away end for their support #redandwhitearmypic.twitter.com/T94Uc91b7g
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) December 5, 2015
QUOTES CORNER
Arsenal boss Wenger on the importance of such a win:
"It was a very important game for us tonight because we came out of three disappointing results. All was not perfect of course but the team have shown mental strength after a goal before half-time. We still managed to win the game in the second half."
Allardyce on Sunderland's inability to score:
"We could have won, never mind a draw. But we didn't because of our frailties in front of goal - we didn't score when we created chances to get in front and ended up losing and when we had a chance to get a last-gasp equaliser, which we deserved."
STATS SPECIALS
*Thanks to Opta
12 - Mesut Ozil has now recorded 12 PL assists this season, the most by an Arsenal player since Cesc Fabregas in 2009/10 (13). Provider.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 5, 20153 - Arsenal have now scored three own goals this season, the most by a Premier League side so far this campaign. Calamitous.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 5, 20152 - Olivier Giroud is the first Arsenal player since Thomas Vermaelen in November 2011 to score a goal and OG in the same PL game. Ends.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 5, 2015
TEAM LEADERS
Arsenal
Goals - Olivier Giroud 8
Assists - Mesut Ozil 12
Clean sheets - Petr Cech 6
Yellow cards - Francis Coquelin 3
Red cards - Gabriel Paulista, Santi Cazorla 1
Sunderland
Goals - Jermain Defoe, Steven Fletcher 4
Assists - Yann M'Vila 4
Clean sheets - Costel Pantilimon 3
Yellow cards - Billy Jones 5
Red cards - Younes Kaboul, Jeremain Lens 1
