Arsenal bounce back to begin FA cup defence in style

Towards the end of the FA cup clash between Arsenal and Sunderland at the Emirates stadium, the poor old Black Cats of Sam Allardyce looked like they did not know what day it was. The Gunners were in full flow and could have scored a hatful of goals as the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Joel Campbell, Bellerin, Giroud and all ran rings around the tiring visitors.

But it was not always so comfortable and the Arsenal players had to dig deep into the resources of energy and application after a slow start and a mistake gave Sunderland the lead about halfway through the first half. They had other chances as well, including a header that came crashing off the bar early in the second half.

But after the blow of going behind you have to praise Arsenal for the way we kept our heads and bounced back with three well taken goals from Campbell, Ramsey and Giroud. It was another example of how much more resilient that current side ar than we were a few years ago and it bodes well for Arsenal going all the way and making history with a third FA cup trophy success on the spin.