Arsenal needed an injury time goal to prevent yet another humiliating defeat as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland on Saturday.

The visitors spent large portions of the match camped in the opposition half but had little to show for their dominance in possession as Sunderland hung on and looked to have snatched an unlikely victory as they took a shock lead through Grant Leadbitter in the 86th minute. Arsenal refused to surrender the game and were rewarded two minutes into injury time when Cesc Fabregas headed home the equalizer.

Keen to shrug off the disappointment of their shock defeat to Hull City last weekend, Arsenal were on the attack right from the kick off and dominated the possession with Sunderland happy to sit back in their own half and attack on the counter. For all their slick passing moves, Arsenal were sorely lacking creativity and posed little threat to the Sunderland defense that was quickly able to break down attacks before they developed into a serious threat.

It was Sunderland who created the first real chance of the match midway through the first half when Steed Malbranque found Dean Whitehead with a cross but Kolo Toure put in a great tackle before the midfielder was able to pull the trigger.

Djibril Cisse had the best chance of the half for Sunderland when he raced forward to meet a poor back pass from Theo Walcott but the angle was always going to be tight for the French striker whose shot was saved by Almunia.

Sunderland continued to frustrate Arsenal in the second half and at times had as many as 10 players inside their own half. The Gunners looked to have broken the deadlock early in the second half when Robin Van Persie converted from Walcott's cross but the linesman ruled that the ball had crossed over the line before the England international hooked it back into play.

With time running out Sunderland looked to have completed a shock victory when they took the lead in the 86th minute thanks to a brilliant drive from substitute Leadbitter who smashed the ball into the net from outside the area.

The visitors poured men forward in the final minutes of the game and were rewarded in the third minute of injury time when Fabregas headed home Van Persie's corner to snatch a point for his side.