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| Arsenal v Sunderland: Premier League – live! | Arsenal v Sunderland: Premier League – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 8.14pm BST20:14 | |
| 30 min: Sanchez wriggles past three opponents and into the Sunderland box, but Van Aanholt then nicks the ball off him. | |
| 8.14pm BST20:14 | |
| 28 min: Arsenal continue to make like that ostentatious swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Can Sunderland play the Indiana Jones role and fell them with one uncomplicated shot? “All this talk of Fantasy Team ramifications and no mention of Sunderland’s surprising defender Patrick Van Aanholt?” tut-tuts Patrick Neasden. “He’s been an ace up my sleeve a few gameweeks, and seems primed to deliver yet again this time.” Yes, he’s a handy acquisition and no mistake, I have him too: a great man for the bonus points thanks to all those crosses and his high standing in the oft-overlooked CBI index (that’s clearance, blocks and interceptions, fellow nerds). I also have Pantilimon: it’s a bumper game for me. | |
| 8.11pm BST20:11 | |
| 25 min: Sunderland venture forward. Their move can be summed up in five words: Johnson, Wickham, Van Aanholt, Koscielny, Doh! | |
| 8.09pm BST20:09 | |
| 23 min: A shot on target by Arsenal! Coates diverted a cross to the edge of the area, where Cazorla arrived and blemmed a decent low effort towards goal. But it would have taken rank goalkeeping for it to find the net, and Pantilimon isn’t rank. | |
| 8.07pm BST20:07 | |
| 22 min: Arsenal get robbed while trying to weave another intricate move around the Sunderland box. Van Aanholt tears forward but misdirects his attempted pass towards Graham. | |
| 8.04pm BST20:04 | |
| 20 min: Ozil picks out Ramsey at the edge of the area as a Sunderland attack unravels. The Welshman lays the ball back into the path of Wilshere, who steams on to it .... and then bogs it miles over the bar. | |
| 8.03pm BST20:03 | |
| 19 min: Ramsey booked for a late tackle on Larsson. Deserved, especially after his trip on Jones earlier in the game, and also because my closest fantasy rival has him in his team. | |
| Updated at 8.04pm BST | |
| 8.03pm BST20:03 | |
| 18 min: Giroud is rather lucky to have kept his starting place tonight, no? He’s been plod lately and has done nothing so far tonight, other than tonk a cross wide just now. | |
| 8.02pm BST20:02 | |
| 8.01pm BST20:01 | |
| 16 min: Ospinna has to rush off his line again, this time to nab the ball before Defoe. There’s a lurking menace there from Sunderland, to be sure. | |
| 8.00pm BST20:00 | |
| 14 min: That’s more like it from Arsenal! Quick pinged passes prised Sunderland apart, but Pantilimon charged off his line to dispossess Wilshere, who dawdled a little as he tried to get the ball of his right foot and on to his left for a shot. The keeper was lucky he got the ball because it was an awkward type of challenge that would certainly have been worthy of a red card if mis-timed. | |
| Updated at 8.11pm BST | |
| 7.58pm BST19:58 | |
| 13 min: All swell so far for Sunderland, with Arsenal yet to muster a shot. “’Be realistic, demand the impossible!’ might be a better piece of 1968-type sloganeering, as far as Sunderland are concerned,” hollers Justin Kavanahg. “Time to man the barricades, Black Cats (or should that be Panthers?).” | |
| 7.56pm BST19:56 | |
| 10 min: Sunderland have not quite parked the bus: they’ve certainly defending en masse when Arsenal are in possession, but they are also attacking with real intent when they get the ball back. Arsenal better not get too carried away with their attacking or they could be caught on the counter. | |
| 7.54pm BST19:54 | |
| 8 min: Wilshere flips the ball wide to Bellerin, who races past the backtracking Defoe and bangs in another threatening cross. But actually, the fullback was too fast even for his team-mates, who couldn’t keep up sufficiently to reach the cross. Dock him fantasy points for that, I’m saying. | |
| Updated at 7.54pm BST | |
| 7.52pm BST19:52 | |
| 7 min: Jones, showing the enterprise alluded to earlier, joins in an attack down the right before being tripped by Ramsey. Larsson wastes the freekick. | |
| Updated at 8.01pm BST | |
| 7.50pm BST19:50 | |
| 5 min: Coates steps in to put an end to ominous conniving between Wilshere and Sanchez. The Uruguayan has made an impressive start to the game. Just 85 more minutes for Sunderland to hold out... | |
| 7.48pm BST19:48 | |
| 4 min: Coates stretches out a leg to stab the ball to safety after a wicked low cross by Bellerin. | |
| 7.48pm BST19:48 | |
| 3 min: After several attempts to pick a way through the middle are thwarted, Arsenal try an alternative route, something they failed to do when losing to Swansea in their last home outing. But Ramsey’s cross is easily cleared. | |
| 7.47pm BST19:47 | |
| 2 min: Hello, Sunderland almost take Arsenal by surprise by attacking from the off. But Ospinna was alert and scampered out of his box to boot the ball away before Graham could collect the through-pass. Arsenal retrieve it and begin probing at the other end ... | |
| 7.45pm BST19:45 | |
| 1 min: Of we go then, Sunderland setting the game in motion with a textbook kick-off. | |
| 7.43pm BST19:43 | |
| The teams march out on to the pitch. Arsenal have red on their torso and white on their sleeves, while Sunderland are all in Tardis-blue | |
| 7.41pm BST19:41 | |
| “Three Gooners in my fantasy team this week with them playing twice, but now worrying about a 0-0 tonight,” frets Andrew Vickers. “Offer any reassurances?” I also have three Gooners in my team, but as one of them is Koscileny, I wouldn’t be too distraught by a 0-0, especially if Bellerin gets sent off, since my main rivals have him. As for reassurances with regard to it not being 0-0, how about a centreback pairing of O’Shea and Coates? | |
| 7.33pm BST19:33 | 7.33pm BST19:33 |
| Was reader Peter Goldstein lobbing rocks around the streets of Paris in 1968? I only ask because he seems to be suggesting that EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG. Here, check him out: “Everyone thinks Gibbs is better than Monreal in attack but worse in defence. In fact, it’s the opposite. Gibbs gets forward all the time, but there’s very little end product. Monreal doesn’t get forward much, but good things tend to happen. Monreal is ordinary in defence, although he’s getting better. Gibbs’ pace makes a big difference there.” | Was reader Peter Goldstein lobbing rocks around the streets of Paris in 1968? I only ask because he seems to be suggesting that EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG. Here, check him out: “Everyone thinks Gibbs is better than Monreal in attack but worse in defence. In fact, it’s the opposite. Gibbs gets forward all the time, but there’s very little end product. Monreal doesn’t get forward much, but good things tend to happen. Monreal is ordinary in defence, although he’s getting better. Gibbs’ pace makes a big difference there.” |
| 7.30pm BST19:30 | 7.30pm BST19:30 |
| “Coquelin breaks up play but doesn’t help Arsenal break teams down against a parked bus,” parks Peter Nelson, suggesting Wenger doesn’t expect Sunderland to go crazy attacking when a point will suffice. “Jack Wilshere should help,” reasons Peter. | “Coquelin breaks up play but doesn’t help Arsenal break teams down against a parked bus,” parks Peter Nelson, suggesting Wenger doesn’t expect Sunderland to go crazy attacking when a point will suffice. “Jack Wilshere should help,” reasons Peter. |
| 7.18pm BST19:18 | 7.18pm BST19:18 |
| On my way to my work station tonight, I a horde of Sunderland fans spilling out of a London pub and into the May sunshine with pints in their hands and fun on their mind It was a beautiful sight, vibrant English cultural heritage in full bloom. And if those Sunderland fans decide to savour it a little longer than most, then who could blame them? Their team, after all, have scored only once in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League games this season, less than any other side. So have another drink, brothers and sisters, and cherish these days. | On my way to my work station tonight, I a horde of Sunderland fans spilling out of a London pub and into the May sunshine with pints in their hands and fun on their mind It was a beautiful sight, vibrant English cultural heritage in full bloom. And if those Sunderland fans decide to savour it a little longer than most, then who could blame them? Their team, after all, have scored only once in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League games this season, less than any other side. So have another drink, brothers and sisters, and cherish these days. |
| Updated at 7.51pm BST | |
| 7.10pm BST19:10 | 7.10pm BST19:10 |
| As you can see from the line-ups below, Arsenal will not be fielding an unchanged side for the seventh time in a row: Gibbs and Wilshere are starting instead of Monreal and Coquelin. Gibbs is better than Monreal in my book, at least going forward, but it’ll be interesting to see how effective Wilshere is in place of Coquelin, especially as Cattermole is likely to set about him with gusto. I’m also looking forward to see Sunderland’s full-backs, as I’ve not watched them regularly but have the sense that Jones and Van Aanholt are a rollicking good pairing when in the mood. Not sure about that O’Shea/Coates axis in the middle, though: If giroud can shake himself out of the fug that he’s been in for the last few weeks, he could get back on the scoring trail. | As you can see from the line-ups below, Arsenal will not be fielding an unchanged side for the seventh time in a row: Gibbs and Wilshere are starting instead of Monreal and Coquelin. Gibbs is better than Monreal in my book, at least going forward, but it’ll be interesting to see how effective Wilshere is in place of Coquelin, especially as Cattermole is likely to set about him with gusto. I’m also looking forward to see Sunderland’s full-backs, as I’ve not watched them regularly but have the sense that Jones and Van Aanholt are a rollicking good pairing when in the mood. Not sure about that O’Shea/Coates axis in the middle, though: If giroud can shake himself out of the fug that he’s been in for the last few weeks, he could get back on the scoring trail. |
| 6.58pm BST18:58 | 6.58pm BST18:58 |
| Preamble: | Preamble: |
| Hello and welcome to coverage of this meeting of extremes: Arsenal need a point to all but ensure participation in the group stages of next season’s Champions League, while Sunderland need a point to avoid having to go into the last weekend of this season fretting about being relegated instead of Newcastle or Hull. If Sunderland were to go down, it would be the fourth time they’ll have suffered that pain since Arsene Wenger arrived to preside over a period of unprecedented consistency at Arsenal. The Londoners have become a kind of ambient presence in the upper echelons of football while Sunderland have rocked entertainingly twixt highs and lows, with 11 managers, including Roy Keane (POW!), Paolo Di Canio (BAM!) and Gus Poyet (SIGH) hinting at greatness before imploding or petering out. Dick Advocaat seems to have hammered some sense into the latest horde of candystriped funsters, so can they put on a show tonight at the Emirates? Can that defence really make Arsenal endure a third consecutive home shut out? We’ll find out shortly. | Hello and welcome to coverage of this meeting of extremes: Arsenal need a point to all but ensure participation in the group stages of next season’s Champions League, while Sunderland need a point to avoid having to go into the last weekend of this season fretting about being relegated instead of Newcastle or Hull. If Sunderland were to go down, it would be the fourth time they’ll have suffered that pain since Arsene Wenger arrived to preside over a period of unprecedented consistency at Arsenal. The Londoners have become a kind of ambient presence in the upper echelons of football while Sunderland have rocked entertainingly twixt highs and lows, with 11 managers, including Roy Keane (POW!), Paolo Di Canio (BAM!) and Gus Poyet (SIGH) hinting at greatness before imploding or petering out. Dick Advocaat seems to have hammered some sense into the latest horde of candystriped funsters, so can they put on a show tonight at the Emirates? Can that defence really make Arsenal endure a third consecutive home shut out? We’ll find out shortly. |
| Updated at 7.04pm BST | Updated at 7.04pm BST |
| 6.45pm BST18:45 | 6.45pm BST18:45 |
| Teams: | Teams: |
| Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud | Arsenal: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud |
| Subs: To follow | Subs: To follow |
| Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, van Aanholt, O’Shea, Coates, Cattermole, Larsson, Johnson, Graham, Defoe, Wickham. | Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, van Aanholt, O’Shea, Coates, Cattermole, Larsson, Johnson, Graham, Defoe, Wickham. |
| Subs: To follow | Subs: To follow |
| Updated at 6.59pm BST | Updated at 6.59pm BST |