The game should have been wrapped up 15 minutes from time when Rosicky once again combined with Nasri who drifted into the penalty box, his legs were taken away from him by Al-Muhamadi. I like many others expected Nasri to take the penalty, especially as he had been on free kick duty

*Crash* back down to earth for myself and I assume many Gooners around the world. A draw away from home against a battling Sunderland side, after having played a midweek Champions League game isn’t the worst of results and many would have taken a 1-1 draw before the game kicked off but to draw in that manner with only seconds remaining on the clock is just heart breaking.

Guessing Arsene Wenger’s line up’s these days is a tough job for anybody, I expected a few changes to the team after our midweek excursions but instead it looked as if continuity was on the menu.

Sunderland were in no mood to stand off Arsenal and let us dominate. The Mackems flew out of the traps and pegged Arsenal back from the start. The instructions to the Sunderland attacking team must have been to get the ball wide and put crosses into the box.

Gael Clichy cleared a header away to safety from the line that could well have been going wide.Onuoha had a good chance from a header which went over the bar but apart from that I cannot remember many more high balls troubling us. Koscielny and Squillaci were immense at the back, winning everything in the air and mopping up pretty much all on the deck.

We couldn’t really get out of our half and get our passing game going but we were given a huge slice of luck on the lucky 13th minute. Anton Ferdinand took far too long in clearing the ball and Cesc Fabregas saw the opportunity to close him down, Ferdinand’s clearance struck the right boot of our captain which sent the ball sailing over the goalkeeper’s head and into the empty net.

I was sat in a pub in Highbury thinking to myself that perhaps our luck is changing. What I didn’t count on was that being the end of our good luck.

I should have known that the tide was turning when Cesc felt the effects of the ricochet with Ferdinand and limped off shortly after. Tomas Rosicky who had started the season in fantastic form replaced the skipper.

Before that Song had a header at the back post saved from an Arshavin cross. Arshavin’s cross was similar to the one to which Cesc scored from in midweek.

Jack Wilshere who was fantastic against Sporting Braga showed the inconsistency that comes with youth by running into trouble on a few occasions. He will learn in time when to dribble and when to play it simple.

Manuel Almunia was flawless once again, claiming crosses and punching to a safe distance when necessary. After watching Mark Schwarzer flapping about at Ewood park, I must say I am very content with keeping Almunia in the form he is in.

Alex Song will feel rather aggrieved at his first booking when the foreigner Henderson dived over Song’s foot to gain a free kick… oh hang on! Song’s protests put him in the book.

Early in the second half, Arshavin had two chances to double Arsenal’s lead but he failed to take them. The Russian magician had left his magic wand along with his shooting boots at home.

As an attacking force we were not at our best but the combination play between Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky was very impressive. Those two have been very good together on a number of occasions last year and I always enjoy them playing one-two’s, switching positions and creating chances. Unfortunately it seems that usually one of them plays if the other one doesn’t start.

With Nasri and Rosicky pulling the strings, we began to improve our offensive game. Our job was made even more difficult when Song was dismissed for a second yellow card for obstruction.

Denilson replaced Arshavin in an attempt to compensate for the loss of Alex Song.

The game should have been wrapped up 15 minutes from time when Rosicky once again combined with Nasri who drifted into the penalty box, his legs were taken away from him by Al-Muhamadi. I like many others expected Nasri to take the penalty, especially as he had been on free kick duty. I was surprised and a little worried when the responsibilities had been passed onto Tomas Rosicky, a fabulous player but a player who had not been in good goal scoring form.

Rosicky went for power instead of placement and his kick soared high over the crossbar.

I tried to push out the feeling of ‘it could be one of those regretful days’ but that feeling kept coming back and smacking me in the face.

The longer the game went on, the more pressure Sunderland were putting on us but Koscielny and Squillaci stood firm, heading out everything that came into the box. Until the end of the four additional minutes of stoppage time. A hooked ball into the box bounced around, Clichy’s attempted clearance struck Koscielny and the ball fell kindly to Darren Bent to lash in past the helpless Almunia.

Heart breaking stuff, I haven’t felt that way since Kevin Phillips equalised at Birmingham City last season.

Now that I have had time to calm down and look at the bigger picture, it was two points lost but a draw away at Sunderland is not the end of the world by any means. Manchester United have dropped points from two winning positions this season so it happens to everyone.

We looked much better defensively, dealt with everything in the air and looked solid overall.

This will all be forgotten about if we can beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Almunia (7.5)
Sagna (7)
Koscielny (7.5)
Squillaci (7.5)
Clichy (6)
Song (6.5)
Wilshere (6)
Cesc (7)
Nasri (7)
Chamakh (7)
Arshavin (6)