Poor refereeing by referee Anthony Taylor cost Arsenal two crucial points and a chance to cut their deficit at the top of the table to a single point as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal went into the match without Cesc Fabregas (Hamstring), Robin van Persie (Knee), Theo Walcott (Ankle) and Alex Song (knee). Laurent Koscielny and Wojciech Szczesny were back in the Arsenal team after their Carling Cup final disappointment. Sunderland had Danny Welbeck, who has been in exceptional form this season, on the bench after recovering from a knee injury. Simon Mignolet replaced Goalkeeper Craig Gordon who is suffering with a Knee injury.
The match started off at a slow pace with both teams playing cautiously. The first chance of the game fell to Arsenal in the 10th minute when Clichy's superb cross just missed Bendtner and a follow up curling shot by Nasri was held by Sunderland goalkeeper Mignolet. Sunderland had their first chance of the match in the 17th minute as Sessegnon was allowed too much space to hit a 20-yard shot which was brilliantly saved by Arsenal keeper Szczesny.
Arsenal fans were increasingly getting frustrated with Arsenal's lack lustre display in the mid field, but a moment of brilliance saw the Gunners coming very close to scoring when Nasri beat Bardsley and Mensah with a superb solo run to reach the touchline, but his near post shot was deflected behind. A minute later Bendtner's superb overhead kick from resulting corner unluckily went straight to the goalkeeper.
Arsenal were getting into the groove now and they created two chances in as many minutes, first when Clichy laid back a ball from the left to back to Nasri, whose 16-yard shot went straight to goalkeeper Mignolet and then Bendtner's half-volley towards the near post, was superbly saved by the goalkeeper.
At half time the score was 0-0 and Nasri and Wilshere were the liveliest players for Arsenal.
The second half started in the same fashion as first half and no chances were created until 17 minutes. Arsene Wenger brought Chamakh in place of Denilson, and the move seemed to work as Chamakh brilliantly set up Arshavin, but the Russian hit it straight to the goalkeeper from 15 yards.
Sunderland brought on Welbeck in place of Malbranque. Arsenal seemed to gather pace now as Koscielny, who was surging ahead throughout the match, was brought down right on the edge of the Sunderland box by Sessegnon.
The resulting Free kick from Nasri was then brilliantly saved by the keeper. Two minutes later Arsenal were unlucky as Chamakh hit the crossbar with a header from a superb Wilshere cross. Diaby was replaced by Rosicky while Sunderland brought on Elmohamady in place of Gyan.
In the 80th minute of the game a dreadful decision by the referee cost Arsenal a clear chance to go ahead as the Gunners were denied a clear penalty when Nasri set up Arshavin, who hit the ball wide as he was clearly pushed by Bramble inside the penalty area. The foul deserved a red card for sure!
But against the run of play, Sunderland struck back with a brilliant solo effort from Welbeck, who brought the ball out of the air, spun and volleyed but was brilliantly saved by Szczesny diving low to his right. A minute later the keeper got into the act once again and produced a brilliant save this time from a Henderson effort.
The last fifteen minutes it was all Arsenal and they were unlucky once again as they were denied a winner by the referee when Arshavin was adjudged offside wrongly and Replays suggested that Arshavin was just onside.
Wave after wave of attacks by Arsenal did not yield anything as Bendtner's header was saved and Koscielny's header just went wide.
All in all it was a good display from the Gunners but their luck totally ran out with poor referring decisions. But the fact of the matter was that two crucial points were dropped by the Gunners.
Steve Bruce will be very happy to walk out with a point after four losses in their previous four games.
Man of the Match - Simon Mignolet: The Sunderland goalkeeper was clearly the man of the match as he kept his side in the game until the last second with brilliant saves especially off Nicklas Bendtner's half volley and Samir Nasri's curling free kick.
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