Arsenal thrashed Sunderland 3-0 to keep their hopes of securing fourth place in the Premiership alive.

In front of 44,000 people and Niall Quinn, Sunderland's potential new owner, the relegated home side never looked like mustering a first win of the season at the Stadium of Light.

Arsenal never reached their fluent best but still scored three first half goals to see off the Sunderland challenge.

The home side looked a match for the Champions League finalists until Danny Collins headed into his own net after 29 minutes after a Thierry Henry free kick.

Henry had had a sloppy start to the game but suddenly found form, and a slick pass picked out Cesc Fabregas who made it 2-0 with a cool chip after 40 minutes.

The Frenchman himself made it three minutes later with a cheeky free kick from 20 yards out on the left.

Henry saw that noone was covering the near left post and simply curled a quick free kick into the unguarded net to put the match well and truly beyond Sunderland.

The away side barely got out of third gear in the second period as manager Arsene Wenger took the chance to rest some key players.

Arsenal were left shaking their heads when Dan Smith fouled midfielder Vassiriki Diaby in the dying seconds, with the Frenchman looking seriously injured.

The good news for the away side, and England, was the return to action of left back Ashley Cole, who has missed over seven months of this season through injury.

Arsenal are now four points behind fourth-placed Spurs with a game in hand.

The Gunners have Manchester City away and Wigan at home, while Spurs have to play West Ham on the final day of the season.