Robin van Persie returned Arsenal to the top of the Premier League yesterday, the Dutch striker's second goal of the afternoon settling a five-goal thriller with Sunderland.
Van Persie's 80th-minute strike was sufficient to give his side a 3-2 win and lift them back above Manchester United, who had held top spot for less than 24 hours after their win over Wigan at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger made just one change to the side that won in Bucharest in the Champions League in midweek, bringing in Abou Diaby in place of Emmanuel Eboue, who dropped to the bench.
The Gunners went ahead in the seventh minute when Grant Leadbitter was penalized for a foul on Cesc Fabregas.
Arsenal initially felt aggrieved because Diaby had curled in a brilliant finish just seconds after referee Rob Styles blew for the foul.
It was only a brief reprieve for Sunderland however. From the free-kick, Van Persie rifled home an unstoppable shot, the ball flying directly over the head of Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon and in off the crossbar.
Seven minutes later Arsenal doubled their advantage when Philippe Senderos took advantage of more hesitant defending to stab Emmanuel Adebayor's cross beyond Gordon.
The visitors were fortunate not to fall three goals behind six minutes later when Diaby swept home Alexandr Hleb's cross, only for the goal to be ruled out for what appeared to be a very debatable offside flag against Mathieu Flamini.
Keane had said in the build-up to this game that he was determined that his side would put up stiff resistance, and signs of an unlikely comeback were apparent when former Celtic winger Ross Wallace scored to put them back in it.
Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia raced out of goal to halt Kenwyne Jones, but the rebound fell kindly for Wallace, who finished in tidy fashion.
It was Sunderland who emerged for the second half with more purpose as they went in search of an unlikely point. And three minutes after the break their high tempo was rewarded with an equalizer from the head of Kenwyne Jones.
The equalizer perhaps came a shade too early though, as Sunderland began to sit back in an attempt to grab what would have been a valuable point.
Theo Walcott finally unlocked Sunderland's defense after 80 minutes, turning in the box and then sliding a pass to van Persie, who steered the ball past Gordon with the outside of his left boot.
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