Sunderland 0-0 Arsenal - Player Ratings

Lineup:

Vito Mannone - 8

Bar one hairy moment in the second half where he almost cost us a goal with a moment of madness, it was a fine afternoon for the Italian stopper. He made a number of good saves from long-range strikes and he played his part in ensuring one of the best attacking sides in the league failed to score.

Patrick Van Aanholt - 8

The improvement in his defensive ability in recent times has to be noted. He fielded everything which came towards him and was a threat going forward. He was immensely unlucky not to have put his side ahead with his free kick in the first half which struck the bar, and generally played very well. Hats off.

DeAndre Yedlin - 7

He also had a decent game defensively but I'm marking him down slightly due to the poor throw-ins he took all afternoon - whenever Yedlin seems to take a throw in, we almost immediately concede possession. Other than that, he did well.

Lamine Kone - 8

Solid yet again. He's been brilliant since arriving here and has improved further alongside Younes Kaboul. His effort right at the death almost gave us a winner worthy of claiming all three points - he's been a huge part of why we are keeping clean sheets all of a sudden.

Younes Kaboul - 8

Like Kone, his presence was massive today and Giroud never got a sniff. Imagine where we might have been if we'd kept him fit all season?

Jan Kirchhoff - 8

Brilliant in possession once again and was given man of the match by Sky, which says alot. He never plays badly. Just a shame he didn't see out the entire game but understandable when you consider he spent most the game chasing after Arsenal midfielders.

Yann M'Vila - 5

Our worst player. Seems to have gone completely off the boil. Wasted the ball almost every time he had it in the first half, then was almost invisible in the second period. Must improve, or faces losing his place to Seb Larsson next week.

Lee Cattermole - 8

Captain fantastic. We've looked much more organised since he took the armband.

Wahbi Khazri - 9

Worked tirelessly up and down the pitch, almost as though he had a point to prove after his poor showing at Norwich. Outstanding, and much more like the Wahbi Khazri we saw in February.

Fabio Borini - 6

Like M'Vila, he kept costing us possession in the first half. Improved in the second and worked hard as he always does.

Jermain Defoe - 6

Fairly quiet afternoon for him, but understandable considering Arsenal had the majority of the ball. Was unlucky not to score when he latched onto Lee Cattermole's through ball and chipped Petr Cech.

Substitutes:

Seb Larsson - 6

Carried on the good work that Jan Kirchhoff had done before him, working hard to close down and stay organised.

Duncan Watmore - 7

Caused Arsenal real problems when he came on, and perhaps should have been introduced earlier. His pace against tiring legs is a real asset to our side.

Man Of The Match - Wahbi Khazri

Just sensational from the Tunisian today. On the ball he looked a threat, and off it he worked harder than any player on the pitch. Tested the keeper a few times and ensured in our half of the pitch that we didn't allow Arsenal to penetrate us from wide positions. Keep it up!

Agree/Disagree? Leave your comments below and vote for your man of the match in the poll.