Robin van Persie, left, scored twice to help Arsenal to a 2-1 win against Sunderland.
Robin van Persie, left, scored twice to help Arsenal to a 2-1 win against Sunderland.

Van Perise is a committed winner for Arsenal



Arsenal 2 Sunderland 1

Premier League in pictures

The best images from week eight of the Premier League.

Robin van Persie rescued Arsenal from another disappointing Premier League result with a fantastic winner against Sunderland at Emirates Stadium.

The Holland striker, who used his programme notes to declare his full commitment to Arsenal, put the hosts ahead after just 29 seconds but the sides went in level at half time thanks to an excellent free kick from former Gunner Sebastian Larsson.

The game appeared destined for a draw as Arsenal proceeded to squander several good second-half chances, but Van Persie saved the Londoners' blushes with a wonderful curling free-kick nine minutes from time.

The win gave Arsenal the perfect tonic after their north London derby defeat to Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago, but the creaky manner in which they snuck past struggling Sunderland will do little to silence the doubters who claim the Gunners are a spent force.

Under-pressure Black Cats manaher Steve Bruce, meanwhile, will rue his side's failure to convert a number of first-half opportunities and they now sit outside the drop zone only on goal difference.

West Bromwich Albion 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Peter Odemwingie responded to being dropped by scoring the decisive second goal as West Bromwich Albion gained their first top-flight win over Wolverhampton Wanderers for 29 years in a pulsating Hawthorns clash.

Odemwingie came off the bench after 72 minutes and four minutes later added to the opening goal from captain Chris Brunt as Albion moved out of the Premier League's bottom three.

It condemned Wolves to a fifth successive defeat - their worst sequence at the top level since 1984.

Roy Hodgson, the Baggies head coach, also celebrated his first managerial win over his Wolves counterpart Mick McCarthy at the sixth attempt.

Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica

Best Agent: Jorge Mendes

Best Club : Liverpool   

 Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)  

 Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker

 Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

 Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP

 Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart

Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)

Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)

Best Women's Player:  Lucy Bronze

Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi

 Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

 Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)

 Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six

Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm

Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km

Price: From Dh796,600

On sale: now