Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland: Death and Rebirth

November wasn't loads of fun for Arsenal – no league wins, tons of injuries, and everybody was all mad online. Sports were bad. But that's usually how November is, so it wasn't entirely unexpected. As the calendar turned, I hoped for better days.

I will admit that as Olivier Giroud knocked a Sunderland free kick into the Arsenal goal, I checked my phone to make sure it wasn't November 35th, somehow.

But Arsenal were able to recover, both from that inauspicious equalizer and, somewhat, from the last month of crap, and rode second half goals from Giroud (in the proper net, this time) and a returning Aaron Ramsey to win 3-1. Sunderland fought every step of the way, but in the end even a somewhat depleted Arsenal side were able to win out.

Speaking of Ramsey, while I have a feeling we'll be talking more about his performance in a post that has "man" and "match" in the title, how nice was it to have him back, and in his actual position? He obviously scored, but also assisted Giroud's go-ahead score, and was integral in the buildup to Joel Campbell's opener. Aaron Ramsey is good.

Now we get to look to Europe, and a match that determines whether we get to go to the knockout stage or if we get relegated to UEFA's version of the NIT. On to Greece.