Arsenal Vs Sunderland: 5 Things We Learned

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5. The win is the most important thing

While fancy performances are always important and nice to watch, ultimately, as the cliche goes, football is a results-based business. Arsenal looked poor against Sunderland, as previously mentioned. Nonetheless, Wenger’s men got the all-important three points to move them to second in the table. Not only is the result important, but with results around the league going Arsenal’s way, the victory is even more significant.

In the lunchtime kick off, Manchester City lost to Stoke-alona, with Xherdan Shaqiri and Marko Arnautovic running the defending champions ragged. The 2-o loss allowed Arsenal to jump City in the table. Moreover, Spurs could only draw to West Brom and Manchester United continued their woeful attacking performances with a 0-0 draw at home to West Ham. The win now puts the Gunners two points behind Leicester, who will surely fall away with a tough run of upcoming fixtures, and a point clear of the Manchester clubs. Spurs are a further three points behind in fifth and now have quite a lot of ground to make up.

Next: Arsenal's 10 Greatest Champions League Moments

Champions win when they don’t play well. Arsenal did not play well whatsoever, but they did win, and that is the most important thing. Heading into the busy New Year schedule, Arsenal need to build momentum. December and January so often decides the fate of a team’s season. Beginning the month with a win, however it comes, is an excellent start.