Bruno Guimaraes silences Sunderland boos with brilliant strike before late Bukayo Saka penalty adds gloss to the grit of 2-0 win that should strike fear into Arsenal's title rivals, writes ISAAN KHAN

The talk in September of Arsenal running away with the Premier League title had seemed rather premature, to put it mildly.

These matters are never straightforward, nor predictable, as the history books show. As recently as last season, for example, Liverpool had been tipped to rule supreme after a summer splurge of around £450million.

A first title in 22 years transpired for the Gunners, of course. Yet, the credentials Mikel Arteta's men are already showing are a scary sight indeed for rivals, bolstering just why many observers are widely tipping them for major honours once again.

Their heads could have dropped on 54 minutes when referee John Brooks pointed to the spot. Ezri Konsa, who had a tough night at the hands of many wrestling jousts with Brian Brobbey, was embroiled in another such battle – this time with Dan Ballard.

Both had hold of each other's shirts in the area as the ball arrived. It made Brooks's call for a penalty seem rather soft, the pair each culpable for the holding.

Enzo Le Fee stepped up to take the resulting penalty, which David Raya sprang at full stretch to tip onto the left-hand post.