Stuart Vose at the Stadium of Light
Martin O'Neill and his Sunderland battlers booked a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with Budweiser with a fine win over Arsenal.
Kieran Richardson fired the hosts in front and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added an own goal as Sunderland extracted revenge for their recent league defeat at the hands of the Gunners.
O'Neill's men were good value for the win as they thoroughly out-worked Arsenal - any supporter looking for a stand-out effort could pick from candidates all over the park.
Sunderland assumed a lead they would never lose just before the break when Richardson fired through a crowd of players and into the corner of the goal.
And the victory was complete as Seb Larsson's 77th-minute shot struck the inside of the post before being accidentally bundled over the line by Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Richardson will grab the headlines for his goal, but Sunderland's work-rate was magnificent as they hassled and harried while probing in the right areas at the other end.
Thierry Henry netted a late winner in the Barclays Premier League encounter a week previously, but this day belonged to Sunderland as they moved into the last eight.
A Gunners outfit featuring five changes from their last domestic game faced a Black Cats side showing just the one, with captain Lee Cattermole restored to active duty in place of Fraizer Campbell.
Arsenal tested Sunderland first in the familiar surroundings as Mikel Arteta zinged a sixth-minute free-kick past Simon Mignolet's right-hand post from 25 yards.
Sunderland responded with zeal as Stephane Sessegnon shot wide from Cattermole's quick free-kick while Lukasz Fabianski had to be alert to swallow up James McClean's dangerous low cross after Sessegnon led a quick break on the counter 23 minutes in.
Both sides were creating chances as Gervinho forced a good save from Mignolet soon after as he latched onto an incisive through ball, before Larsson's corner flashed across the face of goal and away, just missing the incoming Michael Turner.
It was real end-to-end stuff with John O'Shea having to produce a superb saving tackle to prevent Robin van Persie collecting Alex Song's clever reverse pass.
The Dutchman tumbled under the challenge, but referee Howard Webb was having none of Arsenal's voiciferous penalty appeals.
And Sunderland hit back in style five minutes before the break after Johan Djourou handed the hosts a free-kick in a useful position for blatantly hauling down Craig Gardner.
Larsson's kick was headed clear by Thomas Vermaelen but only as far as the lurking Richardson, who turned on a sixpence on the edge of the box and fired low through the crowd and into the far corner with Fabianski hopelessly unsighted.
The ball appeared to take a nick off sub Sebastien Squillaci on its way to goal, but Richardson would have cared little as he wheeled away to celebrate his third strike of the season.
O'Neill's side could even have had a second goal before the break, but McClean drove the ball into the side-netting from close range after Jack Colback knocked down Larsson's deep cross.
The hosts continued to press after the break, with Larsson skimming the top of the net with a free kick after Sagna earned himself a booking by cynically chopping down McClean as the winger advanced on goal.
Gardner then headed wide as Sunderland looked to exploit a hesitant Arsenal defence playing a very high line in their search for an equaliser.
van Persie saw a powerful free-kick deflected wide 65 minutes in, with Sunderland counter-punching through Gardner's speculative effort from distance which had Fabianski scrambling across goal but eventually trickled wide.
But Sunderland's efforts deserved another goal, and they got it 13 minutes from time courtesy of another counter-attacking foray.
Colback poked the ball through an opponent's legs to set away Sessegnon, who shrugged off the attentions of Arteta before playing in Larsson to the right of goal.
The midfielder's shot struck the inside the near post and spun agonisingly along the line, but Oxlade-Chamberlain - attempting to clear - got his feet in a mess and bundled the ball horribly into the back of his own net.
That was the final blow for Arsenal as Sunderland held the Gunners comfortably at bay to book their place in the last eight.
The 'W' word hasn't come out yet, but fans on Wearside are certainly enjoying their first real run in the competition for years.
