Van Persie rises to the challenge

Arsenal - 3 Sunderland - 1: Robin van Persie's 18 months at Arsenal have not always been memorable for the right reasons. A red card at Southampton raised questions about his temperament and in June the striker spent two weeks in a Rotterdam jail over rape allegations that he strenuously denies.

Now the 22-year-old is catching the eye in exactly the way Arsene Wenger would like. Van Persie's performance on Saturday capped the best 12 days of his Highbury career.

In four matches he has scored five times and his mature contributions make impressive reading: two goals at Sunderland in the League Cup, an influential substitute's appearance at Tottenham to help Arsenal recover a point, a brace after coming off the bench against Sparta Prague and the opening goal and some fine touches here.

He has shown talent before but not in such a sustained burst and his team play is improving. A handful of promising combinations with Thierry Henry presented added encouragement for Arsenal against meek, outplayed opponents.

With Dennis Bergkamp unable to start every game and in surely his final season, Van Persie is entitled on current form to consider himself a stronger partner for the captain than Jose Antonio Reyes.

His challenge is to sustain it. Wenger noted that Van Persie has some way to go to be considered Bergkamp's natural heir, pointing out that the younger Dutchman does not yet possess the same "experience, vision or final ball".

Bergkamp, though, would have been proud of Van Persie's flick which sent Lauren clear to cross for Henry to make it 2-0.

The manager was coy on Van Persie succeeding Bergkamp, partly no doubt to ensure feet stay on the ground. He will have noted a mishit cross and poor finish. "There is still some work to do, because Dennis is a genius," Wenger said. "I feel he has potential to play for Arsenal. Will he be as good as Dennis? That's down to him. He has the ingredients which can make us hope. The biggest part is to do it."

With Van Persie and Henry together, Arsenal have strong strikers who threaten behind a defence and are confident in their shooting, which Reyes is not currently. It provides greater directness, a valuable variety, exemplified when Van Persie finished powerfully after chesting down an astute long Sol Campbell pass. Similarly, he should have scored from Henry's flick-on.

Sunderland were particularly poor in the first half, giving Arsenal too much room, and the technical gulf between the teams stood out.

Wenger's players performed within themselves but built a 2-0 lead and should have added to that after the interval, when their search for a designer goal or killer pass held them back. It was hard to chastise Henry, though, for an unnecessary bicycle kick against a post from Van Persie's pass.

It had been impossible to imagine Sunderland scoring until Alan Stubbs did so from a corner, and for seven minutes there was the first hint of tension before Arsenal stepped up a gear. A crisp move culminated in Henry being released by the influential Cesc Fabregas for his fifth goal in four matches.

Guardian Service