Reid attacks leaky defence

Sunderland boss Peter Reid criticised his side’s defending and lack of self-belief after they were swept aside by Arsenal’s record-breaking bandwagon at Highbury.

Kanu put the result beyond doubt within the first 10 minutes by striking twice before Patrick Vieira made it 3-0 just before half-time.

Arsenal eased up noticeably after the break and a consolation effort from Jody Craddock was not enough to stop the Gunners setting a new Premiership record of going 30 consecutive games without defeat.

Reid finds the pressure back on him after his team’s early season problems looked to have eased with victories against Aston Villa and Cambridge.

This time, the Sunderland boss stopped short of questioning his players’ desire, as he did after defeat at Newcastle.

However, he said: “I got that off my chest after the Newcastle game. I thought the desire was there in this game but it was just that the belief wasn’t.

“We should have had some confidence after beating Aston Villa and then Cambridge 7-0, but looked as though we didn’t believe we would get a result here.

“We had a great start as last year we were 2-0 down in four minutes. This time, it took nine minutes.

“Seriously though, it was very disappointing. We all know how Arsenal start so well and we impressed that on the players before the game.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Arsenal’s fantastic squad but we caused our own downfall without a doubt by not defending right.

“Firstly, we didn’t defend a corner and then we gave away possession to go 2-0 down.

“If you are cut open by good play from world-class players then that’s one thing but we gave them a helping hand with our defending.

“They won everything. They won every tackle and every second ball, while we gave the ball away too cheaply.”

Sunderland also lost goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen with a dislocated elbow that should keep him out of action for two to three months.

Arsenal, meanwhile, go from strength to strength as they scored for a 48th consecutive league game and Wenger believes they can go the whole Premier League season unbeaten.

Reid admitted: “If they play us every week then they’ve got every chance. They’ve got one hell of a squad with so much pace and power.”

Wenger praised Kanu for his attitude in waiting for his chance before scoring five times in the past five games in the absence of Dennis Bergkamp through injury.

“The most important thing is that we have 20 quality players, it doesn’t matter who comes in. We showed that last season and again this year. Kanu shows that as well,” he said.

“He has always shown a great attitude and has got a lot of respect from everyone for that. It’s not been easy for him as he’s got a world-class player fighting for his position.”

Wenger added: “I told you that I want to win every game and we did that in an outstanding first-half today.

“Part of the reason we were superior is that the gap has increased because we were on a high and Sunderland did not have so much confidence.

“The unbeaten record proves that we are consistent and champions are consistent.”