Arsenal strengthened their grip on the Premier League summit with a commanding 3-0 victory over Sunderland at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to a decisive brace from Viktor Gyökeres. The win opened up a nine-point advantage at the top of the table, the largest margin the Gunners have held this late in the season since their historic 2003-04 unbeaten campaign.

The match began with Arsenal asserting dominance early. Kai Havertz nearly opened the scoring within 22 seconds, glancing a header just wide, before heroically blocking Brian Brobbey’s follow-up shot on the goal line after David Raya spilled a cross. Declan Rice also came close with a curling effort from outside the box, but it sailed past the post.

Arsenal’s pressure finally paid off three minutes before halftime. Leandro Trossard delivered a precise pull-back to unmarked Martin Zubimendi, who unleashed a clever outside-of-the-boot strike that evaded Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs and nestled into the far corner off the left post.

The second half saw Sunderland briefly threaten, but their attack fizzled out quickly. The game was effectively sealed in the 66th minute when substitute Viktor Gyökeres, shortly after coming on, improvised following a stumble to fire home a powerful shot past Roefs.

Gyökeres completed his impact performance with a third Arsenal goal in stoppage time. Gabriel Martinelli led a blistering counter-attack, darted past the defender, and drew Roefs off his line before calmly laying the ball off for Gyökeres to tap in an empty net.

Statistically, Arsenal were dominant. They registered 1.22 expected goals (xG) from 16 shots, with Gyökeres contributing 0.69 of that total. In contrast, Sunderland managed only 0.17 xG, underscoring their struggles in the final third.

With Manchester City not in action until Sunday and Aston Villa held to a draw by Bournemouth, Arsenal seized the opportunity to extend their lead. The result also highlighted manager Mikel Arteta’s effective use of the bench; since January, no Premier League player has scored more goals across all competitions than Gyökeres’ six. Notably, six of his eight league goals for Arsenal have come against newly promoted sides, and this match marked the first time he has scored in consecutive top-flight appearances for the club.

As the final whistle blew, Arsenal fans celebrated not just a comfortable win, but a significant step toward Premier League glory, with the team now firmly in control of their destiny.