London, October 7:

Robin van Persie scored the late winner for Arsenal in a 3-2 win over Sunderland in the Premier League on Sunday that returned the Gunners to the top of the table.

Arsenal were up 2-0 after 14 minutes thanks to van Persie’s first goal and another from Philippe Senderos, before Sunderland replied through Ross Wallace and Kenwyne Jones.

Arsenal lead with 22 points, followed by Manchester United with 20. The Red Devils had moved into the top spot on Saturday for the first time this season with a 4-0 win over Wigan.

Van Persie scored the winner in the 80th minute, after taking a cross from substitute Theo Walcott. He had put Arsenal ahead in the seventh minute with a shot that went in off the underside of the crossbar. Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon then pushed away a header from Emmanuel Adebayor, but could not stop Senderos from scoring in the 14th.

Sunderland pulled a goal back in the 25th, with Wallace scoring from the rebound after Jones had a shot saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. Jones headed into goal in the 48th minute to level the scores.

Spanish La Liga

VALENCIA: Luis Garcia scored in the 81st minute as Espanyol rallied for a 2-1 win at Valencia in the Spanish league on Saturday. Albert Riera chested Valmiro Lopez’s cross from the right before volleying in a bouncer with his left foot for Espanyol’s first goal in the 20th.

Ruben Baraja scored for Valencia in the fifth, the midfielder getting over two defenders to meet David Villa’s cross with his head. Real Madrid lead with 16 points, one point better than Villarreal and Valencia. FC Barcelona have 14. Espanyol improved to 13 points with their third straight victory.