Arsenal suffered their third defeat of the season in the Premier League yesterday, as they went down 0-1 to Sunderland at the Stadium of Lights. Darren Bent scored the decisive goal 19 minutes from time after the Gunners failed to clear a corner. Arsenal, as usual, dominated possession with Tomas Rosicky hitting a fierce volley straight at the Sunderland goalkeeper in the first five minutes and Song missing a tap in by a whisker on the half hour mark. The goal led to a frantic finale, but Sunderland survived to take all three points. Arsene Wenger spoke of his frustration after the match. He said, “It’s a big disappointment, basically because we were not at our level. I feel that some players struggled really to prepare properly, mentally for a game like that because you know after an international break it’s how well and how quickly the team can focus again.” “The international break doesn’t help but it’s down to us, as a team, to focus quickly again and to show that quality.” “To win the championship you need to be capable, every time, to turn up as close as possible to your best in a consistent way. When you cannot do that, you can lose games like that,” he added. Arsenal are now eight points behind leaders Chelsea, with a game in hand. “It is a big setback because you do not prepare yourself to drop points in a situation like that. It’s not especially worrying, it’s frustrating, because I know we have the quality but it is frustrating when you see some performances today – that is very frustrating,” Wenger said. It is frustrating indeed, given that Arsenal could have maintained the pressure on Chelsea. However, this is not a major blow the Gunners’ title chances. Assuming that Arsenal will win the game in hand against Bolton, that leaves them five points behind Chelsea. If they win their next game against the current league leaders, the lead would be cut down to just two points. In January, Chelsea will lose Didier Drogba, Solomon Kalou, Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel, Liverpool will lose Nabil El Zhar (hardly a first team player), Manchester City will lose Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Benjani Mwaruwari. Manchester United will have their full first team, while Arsenal will lose Emmanuel Eboue and Alexandre Song. In January, Arsenal will play Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Manchester United. Chelsea will play Hull City, Sunderland, Birmingham City and Burnley. United will play Birmingham City, Burnley, Hull City and Arsenal. City will play Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Stoke City and Portsmouth. Out of these fixtures, Arsenal will play the relatively tough fixtures at home, unlike the other teams. With the loss of influential figures for an entire month, Chelsea would certainly find it hard to break down teams. Any injury in January and it would be a big blow to their chances. Arsenal, on the other hand, will lose two players. However, they have a good bench strength. Also, considering the fact that the Arsenal goals have so far been distributed among the entire team, the loss of one or two players shouldn’t be a major problem. Yesterday’s match was just a minor blip, the players must now regroup and focus and make sure that they give their one hundred percent. The title chase is still on for the Gunners.

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