Arsenal's Arsene Wenger was full of praise for Sunderland in the wake of Sunday's 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Sam Allardyce's Black Cats were unlucky not to come away with all three points after Patrick van Aanholt hit the woodwork and Petr Cech made a host of quality saves in what was an impressive display from a team striving to avoid relegation.

The result saw Sunderland move out of the bottom three and prompted a positive reaction from Wenger who felt the Wearside outfit gave absolutely everything to claim a point against his fourth-placed Gunners.

"A team like Sunderland is ready to fight for their lives, and of course they will never give up during the 90 minutes," said the Frenchman.

"They started with a bit of anxiety and we had to take advantage of that level of anxiety they had at the start of the game, but we couldn't and you know with the fact that you have played Sunday, Thursday, today that you could suffer a little bit physically in the second half and that's what happened.

"Then the game was much more difficult for us."