Cesc Fábregas came to Arsenal's rescue with an added-time equaliser at Sunderland to spare the Gunners a second successive Premier League defeat of the season, which seemed inevitable when Grant Leadbitter gave the hosts the lead four minutes from time.
The Gunners would have gone top with a win at the Stadium of Light but they will be thankful to emerge from the north-east with as much as a point after going behind late on. Arsenal were aggrieved at having a goal disallowed in the second half when Robin van Persie's strike was incorrectly ruled out after Theo Walcott's cut-back was erroneously adjudged to have crossed the line. Van Persie again came close with five minutes to go when his snapshot from eight yards out was superbly turned over by Craig Gordon in the Sunderland goal.
But for all Arsenal's late pressure it was the Black Cats who took the lead. Leadbitter, who had only been on the field for two minutes, unleashed a powerful drive from 25 yards that cannoned into the goal off the underside of the bar. In injury time though, Fábregas, who had been a threat throughout, rose to send a firm header from Van Persie's corner past Gordon and salvage a point for the Londoners, who join Aston Villa in third place on 13 points.
Arsenal should have taken the lead 13 minutes in when Alexandre Song headed Fábregas's corner over the bar but that chance merely kicked Sunderland into action with Manuel Almunia twice forced to make saves from the lively Djibril Cissé. Fábregas had a long-range effort well saved by Gordon on 20 minutes but, though the visitors laid siege to the Wearsiders' goal, they struggled to find a way through the sea of red and white shirts that flooded the Sunderland midfield.
At the JJB Stadium, Arsenal old boy Jérémie Aliadière scored late on to give Middlesbrough a long-awaited 1-0 win over Wigan. Boro had done little to threaten Steve Bruce's side, who twice came close through Amr Zaki. But with two minutes left, Aliadière controlled Stewart Downing's knock-down before firing home.
Roman Bednar's second-half strike earned West Brom their third win in four matches as Tony Mowbray's men kept the flag flying for last season's promoted Championship sides. Bednar pounced on 61 minutes, shortly after Fulham had cleared James Morrison's header off the line. The Cottagers failed to deal quite so effectively with Ryan Donk's corner and Bednar, who had been denied early on by Mark Schwarzer, scored from close range.
Fulham had threatened before the break from a Jimmy Bullard free-kick, which curled narrowly over, while Zoltan Gera was unfortunate not to score against his former club when he side-footed wide with Scott Carson well beaten. After the break though, the hosts stepped up their game, hitting the post shortly after the restart through Gianni Zuiverloon before Bednar's winner.
