Sunderland 0 – Arsenal 2: David Raya, Bruno Guimaraes, class
Arsenal made it four wins from four in the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats played a gritty, physical game, but the Gunners gave as good as they got, and battled to the win. With a massive assist from David Raya saving a, uh, generously awarded penalty that would have made it 1-0 for the bad guys. Minutes later, Bruno Guimaraes put one top bins. Raya made another brilliant save later in the half. Deep in added time, Bruno put Bukayo Saka in on goal, earning a penalty and second yellow to Reinildo. Penalty converted. Game over.
The Sunderland crowd greeted Bruno with a chorus of boos when he replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly at halftime. They take their rivalry with Newcastle seriously. Unfortunately, it was very much a “keep booing, it only makes me stronger” moment. You could see from the little smile on Bruno’s face that he was loving it and using it to fuel him. His “I can’t hear you” celebration to the crowd after he’d put one on postage stamp was absolute perfection.
Great call from Mikel Arteta to pull Myles Lewis-Skelly at the break. Everything was off from him — poor touches, cheap fouls — it simply wasn’t his night. The manager also had to swap Jurrien Timber for Ben White, who appeared to have tweaked his groin. Because when Arsenal get one right back healthy, the other gets injured. That’s how it works. Timber was excellent, by the way.
The Arsenal subs that came on later in the second half, Eze, Merino, and Zubimendi, were mediocre to poor. The depth is tremendous but Mikel Arteta has his work cut out for him to keep everyone sharp so that when they are called into action they don’t, say, give the ball away the only two times they get on it like Merino did today.
The Gunners could have and should have been ahead at halftime, but once again, they were profligate with scoring chances. Bukayo Saka was caught in two minds on a leaping volley and only managed glancing contact. Kai Havertz shot over the bar from in close. The German striker also forced a smart save with a brilliant control, turn, and volley move. Saka also flubbed two chances in the second half — he picked the wrong pass on a 4-on-2 break and he shot too close to the keeper. The side could do with a bit better finishing, but if you believe (as I generally do) that finishing ebbs and flows, as long as they keep generated the volume of chances, someone is in for a real hiding.
On the other side of the ledger, Sunderland had their chances. As mentioned, they had a penalty saved. It was a tremendous effort from Raya, too. The penalty was well-taken, low and into the corner, but the Arsenal keeper bettered it. He made a great, instinctual (and patient) swatting save later in the half at 1-0 up, too. I won’t belabor the penalty award. I thought it was Charmin-soft, and plenty of the ex-player pundits agreed. Dan Ballard initiated the contact then kind of crumpled to the ground when he felt Ezri Konsa battle back. Both Mikel Arteta and Martin Keown described what Ballard did as a judo throw on Konsa.
Brian Brobbey is a handful. But I reckon he wouldn’t be as difficult to defend if a referee decided to call shirt-pulling closely. That’s, like, his one move. He backs into his marker and uses a firm grasp of the defender’s shirt to help hold him off. Ezri Konsa did well against him.
It was a quality win. The Stadium of Light is a tough place to play. The combination of their physical style with a raucous crowd influences the match, particularly weak referees like John Brooks. To their credit, Arsenal didn’t back down from the fight and they kept their heads the handful of times Sunderland players really tried to start something. This was the type of match that would often trip up Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal because they’d get dragged down into the mud and lose focus. This bunch stays locked-in and fights right back. They can win in all sorts of different ways.
The Gunners host the Blues for a massive derby in the season’s early stages
Arsenal take to the road for their first big hurdle of the season as they face Aston Villa
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