Robin Van Persie's absence haunts Arsenal

Robin van Persie might have been 200 miles away training with Wayne Rooney and the rest of his new Manchester United team-mates, but his presence still hung uncomfortably over the Emirates yesterday (Saturday).

From the first minute, when Sunderland's supporters observed that Van Persie "leaves when he wants", to the closing seconds, as Arsenal missed a succession of chances to win a match they dominated, it was difficult to stop thinking about Arsene Wenger's Dutch protege.

For make no mistake, on last season's form, Arsenal would have won this match at a canter with Van Persie in the team.

Van Persie's two replacements, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud, each took a turn as the main central striker but they were unable to translate sporadic moments of real quality, notably from Santi Cazorla, into a goal.

Giroud is especially likely to have a sleepless night after shooting wide from just outside the six-yard box when Cazorla had split Sunderland's defence with a wonderful reverse pass.

Podolski, though, was even further off the pace, struggling both to link up the play with his back to goal and find any goalscoring positions himself.

"We lacked sharpness and fluency in the final third," conceded Wenger.

"It was a great missed opportunity. To have so much possession and so few points is frustrating. The formula didn't work with three strikers. We were not very balanced and didn't create enough.

"I feel Podolski is not yet ready physically, but has the quality. Giroud has a presence on the pitch in this position but, of course, we expected him to score that chance."

Next came the question that Wenger may have to get used to answering this season. Would it have been different with Van Persie in the team?

"You can never check," he said. "We have played draws with Van Perise and lost games with him but, it is true last year, in every game, he found something special. I have never denied that we lost a world-class player who is very difficult to replace. But, once on the pitch, you don't think about who is not there. You try to make a good pass. All the rest is not valid."

Credit must also go to Sunderland, who certainly matched Arsenal's profligacy with their resilience.

Martin O'Neill celebrated the final whistle with a clenched fist and, as he seeks reinforcements before the end of this transfer window, he could take great solace from the basic spirit of his players.

For Arsenal, the main positive could be derived from the performance of Cazorla. Wenger had noted that he "looked like an Arsenal player" within five minutes of joining training and, for the fans, it took even less time to win acceptance.

With his first contribution, Cazorla forced an acrobatic save from Simon Mignolet with a swerving shot from 20 years.

There was something of Cesc Fabregas about him in the way that he kept drifted into dangerous positions behind Sunderland's midfield and he then also dragged a good chance wide following a skilful run down the left from Gervinho.

Striding forward from a deep-lying midfield position, Abou Diaby also provided moments of optimism on his return from a long-term ankle injury and his sweet first-half shot required a finger-tip save from Mignolet.

Sunderland, though, were initially not without their chances. Stephane Sessegnon dissected Arsenal's defence for James McClean, whose low shot was parried to safety by an alert Wojciech Szczesny. Jack Colback also forced a rather more routine first-half save from Szczesny.

Arsenal heeded the warning and, with Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs becoming rather less adventurous, Sunderland placed no further pressure on the Arsenal goal.

They were effective, though, in what became a 10-man, bodies- behind-the-ball, mission to stifle their opponents. With the exception of a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area that sailed about a metre over, Podolski never threatened and was withdrawn in the 64th minute.

Giroud was then given his chance in the old Van Persie role through the middle and, while he was slightly more adept at bringing others into play, Carlos Cuellar and John O'Shea were in a stubborn mood at the centre of Sunderland's defence.

Throughout the entire second half, Arsenal carved out only one real chance when Cazorla brilliantly releasing Giroud in the 83rd minute. But, as was the story of the match, they just lacked that final touch. Or, to be more precise, they just missed their talismanic former captain.