30 October,2016 01:15 PM IST | | AFP
Frenchman Olivier and Chilean Alexis score a brace each as Arsenal beat Sunderland 4-1 in their own backyard
Prsenal's Alexis Sanchez (left) turns to celebrate after scoring against Sunderland in an English Premier League match at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland on Saturday. pic/AFP
Sunderland: Olivier Giroud came off the bench to score twice in five second-half minutes as Arsenal maintained their Premier League title challenge with a comfortable 4-1 win at struggling Sunderland.
Alexis Sanchez scored the Gunners' other two goals to make it 14 games unbeaten for Arsene Wenger's side, who would have won with even more to spare had they taken all their chances in a dominant display.
Sunderland momentarily looked capable of springing a surprise when they levelled through Jermain Defoe's 65th-minute penalty. But their unlikely comeback was short-lived as Giroud claimed his first Premier League goals since May to herald a decisive burst of three goals in six and a half minutes from the visitors. The Frenchman had been on the pitch for just 60 seconds when he volleyed home a cross from Kieran Gibbs to restore Arsenal's lead in the 71st minute.
The 30-year-old secured victory with a looping near-post header from a Mesut Ozil corner soon after, before Sanchez kept his composure to add a close-range fourth after Gibbs's shot came back off the post. Arsenal provisionally moved three points clear at the league summit ahead of the rest of Saturday's games.
Defeat left winless
Sunderland bottom of the table and with two points from 10 games, they have matched Manchester City's unwanted 1995 record for the worst start to a Premier League season. Manager David Moyes is still searching for a first league victory since succeeding Sam Allardyce in July.
