Arsenal vs. Sunderland: 8 Things the Gunners Learned from Their Win

Another wild emotional roller coaster, and another absolutely vital three points for Arsenal.

In a game that took a long time to get into gear and lacked any real spark, James McClean sent Arsenal fans into despair when he finished perfectly following Per Mertesacker's collapse and subsequent injury.

When all looked hopeless, much-maligned midfielder Aaron Ramsey struck an improbable equalizer off both posts to keep Arsenal in it.

Then, in stoppage time, Thierry Henry headed home perfectly from an Andrei Arshavin cross on his final Premier League appearance to win Arsenal the game. Truly unbelievable stuff.

This was better than the perfect sendoff for the best player the club has ever seen; both Chelsea and Liverpool lost today, and Arsenal now occupy the coveted fourth place slot.

My fingernails might not like this victory, but it was a win of the highest quality. Here are eight things we learned from it.

Arsenal Will Sorely Miss Thierry Henry

It was a goal even more perfectly scripted than the instep Henry scored against Leeds. In stoppage time, in his last game in England, when Arsenal just needed a win, it was goal no. 229.

But can you seriously see Marouane Chamakh or Ju-Young Park scoring that goal? The reality is that, after the Gunners' next match against AC Milan, there will be no viable backup to Robin van Persie.

Again.

I do not wish to be a downer, but we should be conscious of what lies in the aftermath of our current euphoria.

Arsenal Have Real Mental Strength

Many times before, when Arsene Wenger has claimed that his side has the mental toughness to succeed in the League, the manager's statements have seemed hollow and contrived.

But Arsenal showed today that they most certainly possess the resolve necessary to push on when all seems lost. Sunderland had nicked a goal out of nowhere, Per Mertesacker had badly injured himself on that very passage of play and the Black Cats wanted more.

When someone needed to step up, it was Aaron Ramsey providing the stroke of class that Arsenal required to get back in the game, equalizing off of both posts.

And after weathering waves of Sunderland attacks, the Gunners bent without breaking, and got the improbable winner in stoppage time from none other than Thierry Henry.

I cannot imagine Arsenal teams of years gone by coming back to win in the manner that this present squad did today.

Wojciech Szczesny Is World-Class

It is a shame that Wojciech Szczesny's absolutely superb performance is likely to go unnoticed because of his team's late exploits.

In fact, if it weren't for the Pole in goal, Arsenal would have faced a much more difficult proposition. On more than one occasion, he saved blistering strikes from Craig Gardner that a lesser keeper would not have been able to keep out.

When Arsenal were under the most pressure, it was often Szczesny's heroics that kept the net from bulging.

Some may blame him for Sunderland's goal, but Mertesacker's injury was not Szczesny's fault, and James McClean's finish was superb. This is the kind of talent between the sticks that Arsenal have lacked for years.

Arsenal's Defence Will Be Stretched for a While Longer

Though nobody is sure of the extent of his injury, Per Mertesacker seems to have suffered a bad knock when he collapsed suddenly and unexpectedly in the 70th minute.

Arsenal are lucky that Kieran Gibbs has returned to allow Thomas Vermaelen to slot back into the center of defence, but losing Mertesacker is quite a problem for the Gunners.

Whereas Arsene Wenger would have hoped to rotate his defenders based upon matchups and fatigue, he will be forced to roll the dice again with Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen.

If and when Gibbs injures himself again, Wenger will be forced to play Johan Djourou at center back and put Vermaelen out on the left, leaving no room for further injury.

The Gunners Are More Than a One-Man Team

Arsenal's great team performance shows that they are still capable of winning when Robin van Persie does not score.

In fact, the Dutchman did not contribute a whole lot to the Arsenal attack in general. But his teammates picked up the slack, and goals came from other sources when they needed to.

The midfield, in particular, bossed the game, giving the Gunners a 70-percent time of possession and pressuring Sunderland's defence throughout the match. It was their quality and initiative that eventually broke down the Black Cats' extremely defensive approach.

Arsenal Can Beat a Team That Parks the Bus

For the majority of the match, it was plain to see that Sunderland were approaching the game as many of Arsenal's opponents have before: get at least 10 men behind the ball.

It took a while for the Gunners to overcome this red, white and black blockade, and understandably so; when you are bringing the ball up from the middle of the pitch and 11 men are in front of you, it is difficult to create chances.

Usually, Arsenal would be frustrated into submission, and they would not have been able to recover from a sudden setback like the strike that James McClean hit to put Sunderland ahead.

But this time, as Arsenal kept probing, they were able to overcome a team with such a negative approach and score two late goals.

Andrei Arshavin Still Has Some Quality Left in Him

No Arsenal player has faced as much criticism as Andrei Arshavin this season, and he has done little to prove his detractors wrong recently.

Many have seriously doubted whether the petite Russian still has the quality necessary to contribute anything the club for the rest of the season, but he answered many of those questions with one flick of his boot in stoppage time.

Cutting inside, Arshavin opened up his body and lofted a perfectly-weighted ball onto the head of Thierry Henry to set up the Frenchman for the victory and the perfect finish to his last match in England.

Arshavin may be used in a very limited role for the rest of the season, but there is still a tiny, flickering flame of class within him. I believe that he can still be a contributor off the bench during Arsenal's fourth-place push.

Fourth Place Is an Attainable Goal

When Arsenal lost to Manchester United some weeks ago, commentator Martin Tyler ominously stated that the Gunners would probably only be able to qualify for the Champions League next season if they won this year's iteration.

Looking at the table at the moment, that prophecy does not look foreboding at all. After Liverpool and Chelsea lost to Manchester United and Everton, respectively, Arsenal incredibly moved up to fourth place—the final Champions League qualifying position.

No one thought that Arsenal could find themselves in this position after experiencing such a bad run of form in January, and yet the Gunners' destiny lies in their own hands. Season-defining fixtures against Tottenham, Liverpool, and Newcastle await.

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