In fairness Arsenal deserved at least a point after turning the screw in the second half and putting their hosts on the back foot for long spells.
However, they had looked set to head back to London empty-handed after a wonderful Grant Leadbitter strike put the Wearsiders in front late on.
But the Black Cats, who had stood firm in the face of increasing pressure, just couldn't hold on for all three points.
It was a bitter disappointment for the home faithful who must have thought it was going to be another late super show from their side.
The red and white fans were in wonderland when Leadbitter rifled in a shot off the bar on 86 minutes. However, their joy was short-lived as the game went into time added on at the end of the 90 minutes.
Robin van Persie whipped in a corner and Fabregas got in ahead of the home defence to push the ball past Craig Gordon and level the scores.
There is no doubt the draw was a result Roy Keane would have taken before kick-off but he and his side must have felt like they had been robbed at the final whistle.
The Wearsiders had more than matched the Gunners in the opening 45 minutes and fought resolutely after the break to keep the Londoners at bay.
In fact Sunderland could have been ahead at the interval if not for some excellent goalkeeping by Manuel Almunia.
Twice in the space of a minute the Spaniard denied Djibril Cisse, who was the hosts' main goal threat throughout the game.
The first opportunity came on 15 minutes when Cisse tried to latch on to a sloppy back-pass from Theo Walcott. Almunia was off his line at great speed and did well to save at the Sunderland striker's feet.
Just 60 seconds later Cisse brought a superb save from the Arsenal keeper. The Gunners defence was almost caught out as they waited for the Sunderland man to play in Steed Malbranque on the overlap.
However, the quick-thinking front-man stepped inside and fired at goal only for Almunia to pull off a great one-handed stop and tip the ball over the bar.
The Gunners weren't without chances of their own and Black Cats keeper Gordon pulled off a good save to deny Fabregas on 37 minutes.
It was hardly vintage stuff from Arsene Wenger's men, but you always thought they held the upper-hand.
That was until Leadbitter put his side ahead and had all of Wearside dreaming of a fantastic result and all three points.
Unfortunately for them the dream turned into a nightmare as Fabregas made sure the Gunners made their point.