Gunners' Victory Soured by Diaby Injury

It should have been a night to celebrate. Arsenal demolished relegated Sunderland 3-0 without breaking sweat and kept the pressure on North London rivals Spurs. Thierry Henry made two and scored the third. Ashley Cole returned from injury and looked extremely sharp.

But any pleasure was erased by a sickening injury time tackle by Sunderland substitute Dan Smith which broke and dislocated Abou Diaby’s ankle and destroyed his dream of appearing in the Champions League final in Paris.

For this he received a yellow card from that most tolerant and benevolent referee, Dermot Gallagher, and was vigorously defended by Sunderland caretaker manager Kevin Ball, who in his own playing career was not averse to the kind of tackle which does not feature in the coaching manuals.

To virtually everyone else at the Stadium of Light, Smith’s challenge appeared reckless, malicious and premeditated. It brought only shame on a team that should have been playing for pride and could have ended a young man’s promising career. And it was condemned in post-match interviews not only by Arsene Wenger, who was not only incensed but visibly shaken by the incident, and Gunners captain Thierry Henry, who felt that “the only thing the Sunderland players wanted to do was kick people”.