Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal: Points shared at the Stadium of Light as Black Cats hold their own
From the first minute Sunderland made it clear this was going to be a defiant performance. One of the most in-form teams so far in the league this season had no intention of rolling over at the Stadium of Light, even if the visitors had lost only once and conceded three times in 10 league games.
When the league leaders finally overturned Sunderland’s first half goal and followed it up with an emphatic finish to go 2-1 up, it appeared as if the brave defenders had finally been conquered, but Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats found another gear to click into.
Trai Hume floated a diagonal pass into the box and Daniel Ballard cushioned it onto the path of substitute Brian Brobbey, who overcame the pressure from Arsenal bodies, the head of Gabriel Magalhaes and the flailing arms of David Raya to acrobatically slam the ball into the net. The Gunners complained his boot was high, a ridiculous notion given the ball was nearly hip length and dropping. The goal withstood a VAR check.
It was a hybrid game for Sunderland, a strange mix of a low block and controlled build-up play where they tried to control the game at times but were also quite comfortable with Arsenal keeping the ball as long as they wanted, so long as it was a good distance from goal.
Majorly the first half was stop-start, a constantly broken down and interrupted thing, like a recital where the actors regularly forget their lines. Which suited the hosts. In fact they engineered it, but were also supremely disciplined in putting bodies in the way of every Arsenal effort.
Sunderland’s opener was explosive, almost unexpected. After Ballard had slipped at the critical moment and Wilson Isidor swept the ball across goal from an acute angle, goalkeeper Robin Roefs launched a freekick into Arsenal’s box. It sailed into the area and was contested before dropping to Ballard to lash a ruthless strike into the roof of the net.
It was Arsenal’s first goal conceded in 812 minutes of football played, a run of eight games.
The Gunners panicked for most of the first half. In the second they came back renewed and more dangerous but the lead was Sunderland’s to give away.
In a moment of madness, the Black Cats forgot the script and tried to hold the ball for too long in their half. Nordi Mukiele put himself under pressure and had a let off but Enzo Le Fee was not so lucky. After receiving the ball in his own half and somehow forgetting how to pass, rotating like a PlayStation avatar that had lost the cursor, he was quickly robbed by the impatient Declan Rice, who fed Bukayo Saka in the box to harshly punish the mistake.
With the score level Arsenal ramped up the pressure. Leandro Trossard slid the ball through to Martin Zubimendi in the six-yard box but the Spaniard’s effort crept just on the wrong side of the post. Eze’s half volley failed to connect cleanly and Roefs easily cradled it.
Arsenal kept coming. Saka looped the ball towards goal and Roefs failed to punch it clear of the area, but Zubimendi’s follow-up shot pinged the crossbar. The second goal always seemed inevitable, and it finally came when in a moment of inspiration, Trossard cut in from the left and fired into the top left corner.
All seemed right in the world. The Premier League as it has been for a while, the big guns ahead while the Sunderlands of England cower and beg to limit the damage.
There were a few dangerous moments for Mikel Arteta’s side long before the end and David Raya was there to rescue them. First the Spaniard turned himself into a giant blanket to smother Brobbey’s double effort, even if the Dutchman might have been offside, and then moments later he swept out of goal again to deny him once more.
In a comical scene, Raya stood momentarily in the box, puzzled and searching for the ball that rested on the turf behind his feet.
Shorn of the flair of talisman Martin Odegaard, a drop in creativity might be expected from Arsenal, but the team is dotted with players stepping up in various areas and they have managed to get by. Saka danced around for opportunities on the right wing. Rice dictated play in the centre and hunted down Black Cats who dared to keep possession.
At one point near the end, he picked up a loose ball and aimed towards goal, Roefs having strayed off his line. It was off target, much to the goalkeeper’s relief.
Sunderland remained determined. The Stadium of Light still belonged to them and they are yet to lose there this season. They are also in the top four and it is not a fluke. For a few minutes in stoppage time, the balance of power shifted and they laid siege to the Arsenal penalty area. Brobbey was not to be denied a third time.
