Arsenal claim injustice after late Bent goal

Arsene Wenger was left in a rage as Arsenal blew the chance to leap above Chelsea at the top of the table after a last-gasp goal from Sunderland striker Darren Bent. Few could deny the Black Cats deserved a share of the points in a bruising 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, but the equaliser came well into the fifth minute of stoppage time after it had been announced there would only be four minutes of added on time. “If you have a watch, you can control, it's as simple as that," said a furious Wenger later. “It was outside the four minutes. I know the referee can give more than four, it's a minimum of four minutes. But in the four minutes nothing happened to justify the extension of the time. But I cannot do anything about that.”

But privately Wenger will know his side (the same starting XI that crushed Braga 6-0 in midweek) didn’t merit the three points after a jaded display against a committed and industrious Sunderland side. Yet it was Arsenal who took the lead in the 13th minute with one of the freakiest goals you’re ever likely to see. Midway inside his own half Sunderland’s Anton Ferdinand took a fraction too long on the ball and Cesc Fabregas forced the defender into a hurried clearance kick. The ball struck the outstretched boot of the onrushing Arsenal skipper and ricocheted 40 yards over the head of back-pedalling Sunderland ‘keeper Simon Mignolet into the net.

Fabregas’s luck soon run out and he hobbled off with a hamstring injury after half an hour to be replaced by Tomas Rosicky, soon to turn into the villain of the afternoon in Arsenal’s eyes. All the while Sunderland strove hard to find the equaliser and Nedum Onuoha should have hit the mark with a header from Jordan Henderson’s inviting cross.

Ten minutes into the second half Arsenal were reduced to ten men when Alex Song was dismissed for his second bookable offence but the next significant foul was committed by Ahmed Elmohamedy on Samir Nasri, resulting in a penalty for the visitors. Rosicky took the kick and blasted it high and wide, and suddenly Sunderland’s sagging shoulders began to lift. Darren Bent had gone close earlier in the game with a couple of fierce shots and five minutes into injury time he lashed home the ball from the edge of the six-yard box after a chaotic goal-mouth scramble.

And Black Cats’ boss Steve Bruce had no doubt his side got what they deserved. “You want one of those chances to fall to Benty and I thought he earned it because his work-rate was terrific,” Bruce said afterwards. “It's not easy on your own up front. We worked extremely hard to be what we were. They got a fluke of a goal but I thought our first-half performance was excellent and we've got our reward.”

With Chelsea and Manchester United playing this afternoon, Arsenal could have spent Saturday night at the top of the table but instead remain second on 11 points, one behind leaders Chelsea. Nonetheless Arsene Wenger tried to strike an upbeat note. “We played on Wednesday [against Braga] at a high tempo. Today we controlled the game in second half, even with 10 men. It's difficult to play at a high level three days after a Champions League match. But overall, I'm happy with way we faced the game.”

At the other end of the table West Ham picked up their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw at Stoke. The Hammers took the lead on 32 minutes through Scott Parker but three minutes after the break the home side levelled with a Kenwyne Jones’ header. Stoke came close to grabbing a winner but Robert Huth and Ricardo Fuller saw their efforts strike the post, while West Ham’s impressive Frederic Piquionne also rattled the woodwork. “They showed a good togetherness today, good spirit and when faced with adversity, they stuck together, stuck at it and came out the other side with a result,” reflected Hammers’ coach Paul Groves.

Though West Ham still prop up the Premier League table they lie only one point behind Everton after the Toffees suffered their third defeat of the season, a 1-0 loss to visitors Newcastle. Hatem Ben Arfa scored for the Magpies a minute before the interval, a sensational effort sure to replayed endlessly over the coming months. Collecting the ball from Wayne Routledge ten yards outside the Everton area, Ben Arfa feinted right, then stepped to his left and unleashed a stunning left-foot shot into the top corner of the Everton net that left keeper Tim Howard groping thin air. “The most pleasing aspect [of the victory] was the team performance,” said Newcastle boss Chris Hughton. “We thought it was three points lost last week and today was an excellent performance.”

Newcastle’s win moved them up to fifth, one spot behind Tottenham who came from behind to beat Wolves 3-1 at White Hart Lane. Though Spurs dominated the first half they went behind just before the break when Kevin Foley crossed for Steven Fletcher to apply the finish. Having been denied by a string of fine saves from Marcus Hahnemann in the first half, Spurs eventually found a way past the American ‘keeper in the 76th  minute when substitute Alan Hutton was felled by Ward in the penalty area. Up stepped Rafael Van der Vaart to convert the spot kick for his first goal for his new club. Ten minutes later Spurs took the lead when another sub, Roman Pavlyuchenko, slotted home from ten yards.

And the hosts put a touch of gloss on the scoreline with a third in injury time from Hutton, all of which left Spurs’ manager Harry Redknapp in a cheerful mood. “It shows a lot of character when you go behind to come back," Redknapp told reporters. “We came in at half time 1-0 down but I felt we had played well. I couldn't criticise them at half time. We just switched off for the goal but other than that we created plenty of chances but just couldn't stick one away. Wolves aren't easy to play against. They're organised, they work hard...and they make it difficult.”

In other games Aston Villa drew 1-1 at home to Bolton, Fulham were held to a similar scoreline at Blackburn and West Bromwich Albion scored three second-half goals to beat visitors Birmingham and move into ninth spot. ·