Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-1 to get back on track

Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal began to show signs of recovery from their poor start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 victory at home to Sunderland.

Arsenal went ahead after just 27 seconds when Gervinho surged down the left and crossed forVan Persie to sidefoot a shot into the bottom corner of the Sunderland net.

The hosts then dominated with a confidence they have struggled to find this season before Sunderland got back into the game when Seb Larsson struck a curling freekick over the wall to equalise against his former club on 31 minutes.

Arsenal had goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to thank when his point-blank save denied an unmarked Lee Cattermole shortly before halftime but the Gunners dominated the second half before Van Persie to snatched the victory with just 9 minutes left.

The Dutchman more than matched the quality of Larsson's free kick with one of his own that curled over the wall and into the goal to lift Arsenal up to 10th in the league with their third home victory in a row.