Eleven games to go, six points behind Chelsea, two points behind United. If Arsenal win every Premier League game they play between now and the end of the season, they will surely end it as champions, and Arsene Wenger would prove the doubters wrong. Every Arsenal fan reading this will hope he does.

In the days when Arsenal seemed to genuinely contend for the title on a regular basis, there were afternoons when this sort of fixture was resolved at Highbury in the first 30 minutes. But times have changed, the defending certainly isn’t the same, and a new team needs to learn how to assert their superiority in a convincing fashion. The hope is that the Gunners now face a run of winnable matches when they can begin to believe in themselves and each other by posting the points on offer.

There is a house of cards element about the club these days. Not financially (at least yet) as the ‘attendance’ figures always remind us. Sell out home matches mean matchday income is pretty much maxed out, until on field success allows for price rises. But on the field, the disappointments – and the nature of them – have led to an expectation that when big questions are asked of this group of players, the answers will not always be the ones fans want to contemplate. Collapse is almost inevitable. Now is a chance to demonstrate that, under Wenger’s tutelage, it doesn’t always have to be this way.

Two things struck me about the Sunderland match. There seemed far more commitment from the players than has been seen of late, in terms of competing for the ball. Additionally, the defenders did not foray forward quite so willingly and quite so often. Clichy especially seemed mindful of his positional responsibilities, and much of the attacking came down the right side of the field, through Eboue and Walcott, although the latter’s end product was once again a source of frustration.

Many of the players put in quality performances, far better than most have managed for a while. Eboue had a fine game. Song, Nasri and the returning Almunia also deserve credit for their part in the victory. It was refreshing to see these men perform to the levels we know they are capable of, although in fairness to Song he’s rarely had a poor match this season. Nasri especially showed what a valuable player he can be to the team if he can perform like this consistently.

Of course, there were defensive lapses, and Arsenal have a combination of Sunderland’s poor finishing and some interceptions by Almunia to thank for their clean sheet. However, in truth, anything but a home win would have been a travesty given the Gunners’ overall dominance of the 90 minutes.

Sunderland are not enjoying the best of spells at the moment. The one thing that you have to give them credit for though is their dogged defending, which kept the game alive until Fabregas’ injury time penalty. The corresponding fixture at this time last season ended goalless. Yesterday was not an easy game, but the team needed to get the disappointment of the Porto away leg out of their system. With Stoke and Burnley up next, they have the opportunity to build some momentum going into the second leg.

However, the house of cards analogy says it all about the visit to the Britannia Stadium next weekend. It’s certainly not a game anyone is taking for granted, and there is every reason for Stoke to feel confident. However, more of the commitment shown in winning yesterday’s match will give Arsenal a lot more chance of a much needed victory. It’s a huge ask to win every match they play, but if the team take them one at a time and just keep winning them, then this season might not prove the failure that many felt was inevitable after the defeats in successive weekends against the top two.

One final thing. In the ITV coverage in the build-up to the Porto game, I have been told that Arsene Wenger said that the supporters had been ‘brainwashed’ by the media with reference to their feeling frustration. I think he does the supporters a disservice, and should treat them with more respect. Most have been watching Arsenal for long enough to feel justifiably frustrated without taking their cue from the television or newspapers. Most were there before his arrival, and will be there when he has gone. He is an employee – albeit a very highly paid one – whose wages come from the money stumped up by the very fans he is insulting. He does not own the club. Even if he does believe supporters do not have the intelligence to make an impartial judgment on the result of his labours, he should be more careful with his words and less dismissive of those that attend matches. A very poor piece of PR.