We head to the Stadium of Light this weekend for the first time in nine years to take on Sunderland, which has been the site of some spectacular Gunners moments.
We have had some great trips to Wearside over the past 30 years, scoring breathtaking goals and recording big results, as well as creating club history along the way.
Here are five of our most memorable games against the Black Cats:
**January 15, 1997**
**Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal**
This game was our last at Roker Park, a ground we had been visiting since 1905, and perhaps one of the greatest goals ever netted there came in this FA Cup third round replay. In the first minute of the second half, Dennis Bergkamp received the ball on the edge of the box, spun away from two defenders, squared up another and then impudently clipped the ball into the top corner to hand us the lead.
We secured our passage to the next round when Paul Merson sent over a cross for Stephen Hughes to bravely nod home to register his first-ever goal for the club on his third appearance, but the highlight of this night was undoubtedly Bergkamp’s beauty.
**May 11, 2003**
**Sunderland 0-4 Arsenal**
We rounded off our Premier League campaign with this convincing win against the Black Cats, with Freddie Ljungberg helping himself to the matchball with a hat-trick. However, Thierry Henry was battling for the Golden Boot and when he opened the scoring on seven minutes, he found himself level with Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy on 24 apiece.
But the Frenchman’s unselfishness came to the fore, as three times he gave up opportunities to add to his tally for Ljugnberg to net, nodding into the Swede’s path on 39 minutes, before twice playing neat passes for him to finish in the second half. Henry would ultimately finish one behind van Nistelrooy, but consoled himself by lifting the FA Cup the following weekend.
**May 1, 2006**
**Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal**
We continued to push for a top-four place and warm up for the Champions League final by cruising to victory on Wearside. Three goals in the space of 14 minutes at the end of the first half did the damage, with Henry involved in all of them, and he got things rolling when his wicked free-kick was nodded into his own net by Danny Collins.
Then our captain played an inch-perfect through ball into the path of Cesc Fabregas for the young Spaniard to dink over goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, before Henry caught the shot-stopper napping when he bent a free-kick into his goal to seal the win with the whole of the second 45 to play.
**February 11, 2012**
**Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal**
Henry’s 228th and final goal in an Arsenal shirt came at the Stadium of Light. Named on the bench for the final league game of his brief final fling as a Gunner after joining on loan from New York Red Bulls, he came on to see the game explode into life when James McClean capitalised on an injury to Per Mertesacker to hand the hosts a 70th-minute lead.
However five minutes later, a Mikel Arteta shot rebounded into the path of Aaron Ramsey, the Welshman’s effort hit both posts before crossing the line to get us level, and in stoppage-time a fine cross by Andrey Arshavin allowed Henry to guide in his last Gunners goal and clinch the victory.
**October 29, 2016**
**Sunderland 1-4 Arsenal**
Our last trip to Sunderland saw us maintain our good start to the season, as we briefly went top of the table following this emphatic win. A neat passing move led to Alexis Sanchez powerfully heading in an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cross on 19 minutes, but we were pegged back when Jermain Defoe scored from the penalty spot on 65 minutes.
But we roared back into life with three goals in seven minutes to blow the Black Cats away. Olivier Giroud flicked home before he headed over Jordan Pickford to put us in control, and after Kieran Gibbs struck a post, Sanchez was on hand to casually prob in our fourth of the afternoon.
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