Arsenal held at Sunderland

Kanu runs in on goal to open the scoring

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Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

Sunderland denied Arsenal the opportunity of taking top spot in the Premiership with a combative performance.

And the Black Cats looked to have taken all three points on offer - only for referee Mike Riley to rule out Julio Arca's last-minute effort.

Amid confusion, with the home players and crowd alike thinking they had won, Riley blew for offside.

  Key moments

18 mins: Wright makes a double save from McAteer and Arca

40 mins: Kanu opens the scoring

54 mins: Schwarz scores the equaliser

56 mins: Wright smothers a Phillips effort

70 mins: Vieira balloons a penalty over the bar

90 mins: Amid cofusion referee Riley rules out Arca's last-minute "goal"

Sunderland had initially come from behind when Stefan Schwarz cancelled out Kanu's first half goal.

The former Arsenal midfielder's fiercely struck goal heralded a frantic second half when both sides looked for a telling breakthrough.

Arsene Wenger's men were given a gilt-edged opportunity to take the points after 70 minutes, but Patrick Vieira blazed a penalty over Thomas Sorenson's bar.

The penalty miss apart, the Frenchman was the guiding force in an Arsenal team missing a trio of stars.

Wenger chose to rest or rotate Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires.

Vieira is one of the best midfielders in the world, if not the best, and the battle between him and McCann was worth the entry fee alone

Peter Reid

In the early exchanges, Kevin Phillips, leading the hosts' line on his own, went close on two occasions and the Arsenal back four were indebted to Richard Wright on 18 minutes.

Wright, playing in his fifth successive game, clawed away Jason McAteer's cross before palming Arca's shot wide.

But as Vieira slowly gained the upperhand in the midfield battle with Gavin McCann, Arsenal found their fluidity.

The visitors were duly rewarded when Kanu scored the club's first league goal on Wearside in 17 years.

The Nigerian was put through by Sylvain Wiltord, and after Sorenson made an initial save, Kanu found the back of the net to the delight of the travelling support.

Sunderland players protest at the final whistle

But after their side withstood an early Arsenal surge after half-time, the home fans had something to cheer when Schwarz lobbed an equaliser from the edge of the area.

The Swede's third goal for the club not only lifted the crowd, but also his team-mates.

They found the same attacking verve with which they started the match, took the game to their opponents and almost took the points in injury-time.

But for the second successive season the match ended in controversy, following Vieira's red card on the opening day of last season.

Wenger claimed that that defeat haunted his team's away performances for the rest of the season.

I'm disappointed and frustrated by the result because we had three chances to score a second goal

Arsene Wenger

Arsenal's inability to shake of their tenacious opponents, and Wenger's over-confidence in leaving out a host of stars, could mean their visit proves costly again.

But for Reid this was a well-earned point.

It came on the back of three defeats and was due reward for a competitve performance against a team still looking for a first win at Sunderland since 1966.

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Sunderland: Sorensen, Haas, Gray, Thome, Craddock, Varga, McAteer, Schwarz, McCann, Arca, Phillips.
Subs: Macho, Quinn, Williams, Bellion, McCartney.

Arsenal: Wright, Lauren, Upson, Keown, Campbell, van Bronckhorst, Ljungberg, Vieira, Parlour, Kanu, Wiltord.
Subs: Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Luzhny, Taylor.