The Black Cats have failed to win on all 12 of their previous visits to Arsenal’s current stadium, with their most recent away victory over the Gunners having come in a Worthington Cup tie at Highbury in November 2002.
THERE was nothing unusual about Arsene Wenger making a host of changes to his Arsenal side in the early rounds of the League Cup.
When Howard Wilkinson followed his lead in 2002, making nine changes to the Sunderland line-up that had drawn against Charlton Athletic the previous weekend, the expectation was that his side would bow out gracefully at the third-round stage.
Instead, Sunderland’s much-changed line-up claimed a memorable victory in north London, hand Wilkinson his first victory in charge of the club. Ironically, Wilkinson had taken over from Peter Reid, who was sacked after his side had lost at Highbury in the league a month earlier.
Sunderland’s line-up featured the likes of Mark Rossiter, Darren Williams and Michael Proctor, and the Wearsiders’ task looked all but impossible when they fell two goals behind inside the opening 32 minutes.
Robert Pires opened the scoring for Arsenal in the ninth minute. Williams’ foul on Nwankwo Kanu handed the Gunners a free-kick on the left-hand side, and when Giovanni van Bronckhorst pulled the ball to Pires, the French midfielder fired a 20-yard drive through a packed Sunderland box.
Francis Jeffers had a couple of chances to extend Arsenal’s lead, driving across the face of the goal and then sending a shot straight into the arms of Sunderland goalkeeper Jurgen Macho.
Paul Thirlwell makes a sliding challenge (Image: PA)
It was a case of third time lucky for the striker, who doubled his side’s lead 12 minutes before the break.
Kanu powered his way forward from the halfway line, and after receiving his fellow forward’s pass, Jeffers evaded two Sunderland defenders before firing home.
It looked a thankless task for the visitors as they headed down the tunnel with a two-goal deficit at the break, but Wilkinson replaced Stefan Schwarz with Matt Piper at the interval and the game began to turn.
A youthful Kevin Kyle sparked the comeback, with the then 21-year-old halving Arsenal’s lead in the 56th minute.
Marcus Stewart's back-flick from a corner allowed Kyle to rise above the Arsenal defenders and power home a close-range header.
Marcus Stewart celebrates with George McCartney (Image: PA)
Suddenly, it was game on, and Sunderland levelled with 20 minutes remaining to stun the Highbury crowd into silence. Proctor swung over a cross from the left, and Stewart outjumped the Arsenal defence to head home.
Two minutes later, and the travelling fans were in dreamland as Stewart claimed his second goal of the night. This time it was Piper crossing into the middle, and Stewart stole ahead of Arsenal defender Oleg Luzhny to score.
“Considering the amount of inexperience in the side, they did very well,” said Wilkinson, at his post-match press conference. “It helps the morale of those who played and, hopefully, their response is the type that the rest of the players will continue to show and have shown, particularly in our last two games.”
Sunderland’s joy was short-lived, however, as they were drawn away to Sheffield United in the next round of the League Cup and suffered a 2-0 defeat through goals from Shaun Murphy and Wayne Allison.
The 2002-03 season turned out to be a miserable one for Sunderland as they were relegated from the Premier League with a then record low points total of 19.
A run of 15 consecutive league defeats at the end of the season represented a horrendous low, with Sunderland also setting a new record for the fewest goals scored in a Premier League season.
Ironically, given the high point at Highbury in the autumn, the season ended with Sunderland losing 4-0 at home to Arsenal on the final day.
Wilkinson had already been sacked by then, with Mick McCarthy stepping in and presiding over the final-day defeat that saw Arsenal triumph on Wearside thanks to a hat-trick from Freddie Ljungberg and a goal from Thierry Henry.