Appalling play from both sides over a farcical thirty seconds has resulted in the first booking of the match, the honours going to Sunderland midfielder Kieran Richardson. First, Stephane Sessegnon took a free kick with the ball going straight to Jack Wilshere, who raced forward and passed, for some reason, to Titus Bramble. The ball bounced kindly for Sunderland, going back down the length of the pitch for Asamoah Gyan to pick up. The striker's infield pass was... right to an Arsenal player. Denilson's control was just poor enough to give Richardson a sight of the ball, but the midfielder mistimed his tackle and was booked for the challenge. I'm embarrassed to have watched that, on behalf of both teams.
Arsenal Vs. Sunderland: Kieran Richardson Booked
Arsenal have gone back to looking rather uninspired - there aren't any options in the centre for Wilshere to drive towards, and they're simply failing to find Samir Nasri or Andrei Arshavin out on the wings. They'll need to to a better job bringing their best attacking players into the action, because Nicklas Bendtner on his own will enver be enough to unlock a Premier League defence.
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