Andrey Arshavin's impressive Arsenal debut failed to inspire them to a home win over battling Sunderland. The Russian almost scored twice in the first 15 minutes whilst Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner also went close.

Carlos Vela, William Gallas and Van Persie all had second half chances to improve the Gunners chances of a Champions League spot, but failed to find the target.

Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia admitted Arsenal were guilty of missing a host of chances, but praised the battling nature of his team.Sky Sports: "I am delighted with the point. We said we'd be over the moon if we came here and got a point.

"We said we would try and keep a clean sheet and try and steal a goal. We had a little half-chance late on.

"We rode our luck a bit but we doggedly stayed in there. The defence and the midfield were excellent today. Overall I am really pleased.

"The longer the game went on we thought we probably had a chance, but to be fair they missed a couple of good goalscoring opportunities. We had a little bit of luck on our side."