Ramsey helps Arsenal stay top

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he was never in any doubt Aaron Ramsey would return to his best form after the midfielder’s goal helped secure a 2-1 win at Swansea for the Premier League leaders. Ramsey spent nearly eight months on the sidelines after suffering a broken leg following a horror tackle by Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross in February 2010. When he finally returned, Ramsey went on loan to Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City in a bid to rebuild his confidence. It took time for the now 22-year-old Wales international to look the player he had been before his injury setback but this season Ramsey has been in irrepressible form, scoring eight times in league and European football. Against Swansea, he made one goal for German teenager Serge Gnabry and scored himself as Arsenal went two points clear at the top of the table with a deserved victory at the Liberty Stadium. “Ramsey is a young boy and today he and Gnabry scored. Together they are 40 years old!,” said a disbelieving Wenger for whom this victory was an ideal way to mark his 17th anniversary as Gunners boss.

Returning Suarez sends Liverpool second In London Luis Suarez crowned his Premier League return with a brace as Liverpool won 3-1 at bottom club Sunderland on Sunday to climb to second place in the table. Having completed a 10-game ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic last season, Suarez scored in each half at the Stadium of Light as Liverpool ended a run of three games without victory. Daniel Sturridge had given Liverpool the lead with his fifth goal of the season, with Emanuele Giaccherini replying for Sunderland early in the second half after Suarez had made it 2-0. It was Sunderland’s first league game since the dismissal of manager Paolo Di Canio, but although they are now four points from safety, interim coach Kevin Ball will have been heartened by their second-half reaction. — AFP