Arsenal were, by turns, sluggish, incisive and oddly jumpy as Olivier Giroud scored at both ends, one Sunderland’s equaliser, the other Arsenal’s second in this 3-1 victory. At the end of a week when all the talk has been of the home team’s injury crisis, this was always likely to be an edgy encounter and true to form at the end here they had six defenders on the pitch, Callum Chambers on the right wing and Sam Allardyce urging his team on as Sunderland broke with pace and a degree of verve. They really ought to have equalised with two minutes left, Patrick van Aanholt shooting over the bar from ten yards with the goal gaping after a fine Jack Rodwell pass, before Aaron Ramsey settled the matter.

If Sunderland will take some cheer from their performance Arsenal will also be heartened to the result, their first win in three games. For all the talk of injuries, overplaying ( and near-death experiences) they were still able to field a team here of 11 internationals including two world champions and the Premier League’s most creative current midfielder.