Gunners new boy Samir Nasri opened his account after only four minutes, finding the bottom corner following a lay-off from Denilson.

The home side could easily have extended their lead with Emmanuel Adebayor missing a one-on-one and having a goal disallowed for offside midway through the second half.

But Albion dug in well after going behind so early and Manuel Almunia was forced into good saves from Ishmael Miller and Kim Do-heon.

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Liverpool's high-profile strike pairing of Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane looked like drawing a blank in their first league outing at Sunderland - but the Spaniard finally broke the deadlock seven minutes from time to earn Rafael Benitez's side a 1-0 win.

The Reds were largely frustrated by Sunderland, who caused plenty of problems for the visitors with former Liverpool man El-Hadji Diouf particularly impressive on his competitive debut.

A close-range Torres effort that was blocked by Keane looked like summing up a disappointing day before the Euro 2008 winner netted with a clinical low shot.