Soccer-Arsenal's Giroud and Sanchez blow away Sunderland

* Arsenal beat Sunderland 4-1 to go top of the Premier League

* Victory was Arsenal's seventh in eight games

* Sanchez put Arsenal ahead from 22-pass move, added a second after the break

* Defoe equalised from penalty spot after Watmore was brought down

* Giroud scored with first two touches after replacing Iwobi

* Sunderland's start is worst after 10 games in Premier League history

* Arsenal home to Tottenham Hotspur on Nov. 6; Sunderland at Bournemouth on Nov. 5

SUNDERLAND 1 ARSENAL 4

Oct 29 ( Reuters)- Two goals each from Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud, three of them delivered in a devastating seven-minute burst, saw Arsenal romp past Sunderland 4-1 at the Stadium of Light to go top of the Premier League after Saturday's early game.

The match turned on the introduction of Giroud as a 69th-minute substitute after a Jermain Defoe penalty had equalised Sanchez's first-half opener to give the home side a flicker of hope.

Giroud scored with his opening two touches, first with a left-foot shot from a Kieran Gibbs cross on 71 minutes and then with a near-post header from a corner five minutes later.

Sanchez scored Arsenal's third goal in seven minutes from close in after Gibbs's shot had come off the post. Defeat means Sunderland have made the worst start to a season in Premier League history. (Reporting by Neil Robinson; Editing by Clare Fallon)