ARSENAL took the points in what became a match of two free-kicks and another calamitous start to a game for Sunderland.

Robin van Persie fired the Gunners into the lead on 29 seconds, a lead which was cancelled out by Seb Larsson's superb free-kick half an hour later. But van Persie, in imperious form, struck back seven minutes from time with a perfect free-kick of his own.

Usually, an international break is an ideal opportunity for a team to recharge their batteries, to work on tactics on the training ground, to learn from mistakes that may have been made in the past.

Perhaps, therefore, it will have come as a relief for Steve Bruce that, 15 days after his side conceded twice in the first five minutes, Sunderland only conceded one this time. It took Arsenal 29 seconds to grasp the lead when Gervinho squared for van Persie, who fired a right-footed shot past Simon Mignolet.

The Dutch striker continued to torment Sunderland's back four in a spell of attacking football that could and should have yielded more goals.

Firstly, van Persie showed sublime skill to wriggle past Kieran Richardson on 12 minutes, then – again on his weaker foot – lobbing Mignolet only to see his shot bounce off the post then off the line.

Two minutes later, van Persie drove clear of his marker to fire just wide of Mignolet's post.

It was then Gervinho's turn to have a go at the back four. Taking advantage of some static defending on 21 minutes, the Arsenal striker turned John O'Shea, before curling his shot over the bar.

A minute later, Gervinho – again from the left flank – won a corner after bursting into the box unopposed. From the corner, Richardson had to clear off the line after Mignolet came, but missed.

Other than a wayward Richarsdson shot, Sunderland had not been in the game. But on the half-hour mark, a handball 20 yards out by Mikael Arteta resulted in a free-kick to the visitors.

Much was made of Larsson's dead-ball ability when he signed from Birmingham City in the summer, and to a man he has proved that, firstly against Stoke last month and again, yesterday, at the Emirates, curling his shot perfectly into the top corner.

Five minutes later, Stephane Sessegnon, who had already shown flashes of inspiration, burst into the Arsenal box and lofted a perfect pass to the back post, where – in the absence of a second striker – Lee Cattermole headed straight at Wojciech Szczesny. If he had headed down, or either side of the Pole, it would surely have been a goal.

On the stroke of half-time, Jack Colback spurned a gilt-edged chance when, from Larsson's knockdown of a Sessegnon cross, he volleyed over the bar from six yards.

After a nightmare opening 20 minutes, few would have expected Sunderland to still be in the game at half-time.

But, in spite of a team selection that saw no strikers on the pitch for Sunderland, and a shaky performance from the visitors' back five, the Black Cats somehow managed to stay competitive – which is testament to Arsenal's current malaise as opposed to Sunderland's performance.

On 50 minutes, Mignolet had to be on his toes to paw away a deflection off Richardson, while Cattermole did well to clear the danger.

Sunderland had their first chance of the second half on 58 minutes when O'Shea headed Larsson's free-kick wide of the post, before a spell of play that produced four yellow cards in a fractious 10 minutes gave the game a gritty edge. Both Brown and Vaughan were carded for silly fouls on the edge of Mignolet's box, while Alex Song and Laurent Koscielny entered the book for niggly challenges on the halfway line.

Van Persie saw a 65th minute shot saved at the feet of Mignolet as Sunderland struggled to clear their lines.

It took Bruce more than an hour of play to decide that bringing on a second striker would provide more of an attacking threat, with Ji Dong-won entering the fray on 67 minutes. However, there were grumbles from Sunderland's travelling support when it was Larsson, Sunderland's goalscorer and arguably main creator of chances who was replaced, and again on 79 minutes when the lively Sessegnon was replaced by Connor Wickham.

But it was Arsenal's substitution that had a greater impact on his introduction, Andrey Arshavin gliding through the Sunderland defence to fire just wide, five minutes after coming on. The Russian playmaker showed some smart touches as the hosts looked for what would be the winning goal.

It was not Arshavin who took that plaudit – although he did force a fine save out of Mignolet on 85 minutes - but the man of the match van Persie, who arrowed a perfect free-kick into the Belgian's top left corner on 83 minutes.

Sunderland thought they had an equaliser a minute after, when Ji slotted home from Wickham's deflected ball through, but he was – rightly – flagged for offside.

Both teams sorely needed the three points to get their respective campaigns on track, but it was Sunderland who were left wanting, a fact only too apparent for Bruce.

ARSENAL (4-4-2): Szczesny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs (Santos 51); Walcott, Song, Arteta, Rosicky (Benayoun 77); Gervinho (Arshavin 68), van Persie. Subs not used: Park, Djourou, Fabianski, Frimpong.

SUNDERLAND (4-5-1): Mignolet; O'Shea, Turner, Brown, Richardson; Elmohamady, Cattermole (Gardner 87), Colback, Vaughan, Larsson (Ji 67); Sessegnon (Wickham 79). Subs not used: Meyler, Westwood, McClean, Laing.