Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video
Arsenal made it six wins from six so far this season with a hard-fought win over Sunderland last night. Mikel Arteta changed his team back from the one that beat Napoli, with returns for Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Christos Tzolis and Kai Havertz, and while Sunderland were harder to break down than the Italians in midweek, we still had first half opportunities.
A superb Declan Rice pass found Bukayo Saka’s excellent run, but he failed to make good contact with the ball to either knock it past the keeper or square it for the waiting Havertz who would have had a tap-in. Martin Odegaard’s cut back set up the striker for a chance he clipped over, then on the turn he acrobatically forced the keeper into a decent save.
Sunderland’s only real moment of danger came when Granit Xhaka delivered a ball to the back post which Dan Ballard almost got on the end of, although Brian Brobbey provided a real physical test for Ezri Konsa and Gabriel throughout. The half ended with Ben White picking up a knock, and while the return of Jurrien Timber to the bench was obviously very welcome, the universe clearly never wants us to have the two of them available at the same time.
So, the Dutchman came on at the break for White, and Arteta made another change too, putting on Bruno Guimaraes for Lewis-Skelly, but I thought the home side had the best of it in the early part of the second period. It was starting to get a bit tetchy between some of the players, it felt like the referee was reacting to the atmosphere as much as what was happening, and I think that played a part in the decision to award Sunderland a penalty.
It was hard to see what happened at first, and given the new edicts on grappling in the box you just assumed he’d seen something iron clad and punished us for it. With replays though, you could see exactly what went on. Ballard grabbed Konsa’s arm, pulled him forward and then threw himself down to make it look like he’d been wrestled to the ground. I think we would all acknowledge we would like to see less pushing and shoving and holding from corners, but when you introduce a new rule, you also have to remember that players will try and game the system, and that’s what Ballard did here.
The on-field decision was backed up by VAR who categorised it as a ‘holding offence’, but I do hope in the cold light of day this is a decision that is looked at again. There is the KMI panel (Key Match Incidents) who make a judgement on things after the fact, but if this is a penalty and this is the threshold they’ve set for the season ahead, then they will have just opened a massive can of worms. Players will look at what Ballard did, and do the same, and it’s just going to add another dimension of nonsense to something they’ve tried to make better.
Afterwards, Mikel Arteta was really unhappy about the call, saying:
I’m so upset, it’s unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable. This can change the course of a season, the championship, and it’s not acceptable. I’ve seen it 10 times to make sure, because I watched it live, and I said it’s not possible at this level there’s going to be a penalty, because it’s a judo role, that’s what it is. It just cannot happen.
Nevertheless, it did, and it was down to David Raya to face Enzo Le Fee. I don’t think this was a bad penalty either, he hit it towards the bottom corner, but the Arsenal keeper got down quickly and stuck out a strong hand to deflect the ball onto the post and away. It felt like justice to me, and then a couple of minutes later, we saw just how football’s sting in the tail is like no other.
We kept the ball alive well around their box, Rice played a pass to Guimaraes who, from just outside the D, curled a beautiful shot over the goalkeeper, off the underside of the crossbar, and in. What a way to score your first Arsenal goal, and as a former Newcastle player (and captain, no less), what a place to get it. I think we saw in his celebration there was a nod to his past, but it was a top class finish from a player who was brought in to give us that level of threat from an area where, perhaps, we’ve not always been as strong in goalscoring terms as we should be.
Sunderland came back strong as you’d expect, but the defensive battle suited the likes of Konsa and Gabriel. I enjoyed how much the new man was having none of Xhaka’s hard-man stuff. Timber had a goal disallowed for a marginal offside, and Raya was again on hand to keep them at bay after a great Xhaka pass gave Nordi Mukiele a close range chance. The penalty save will be the thing people remember most of his performance, but almost every time there was a ball to be won, whether caught or punched, he was there, and his distribution was fantastic too. This was a 10/10 performance from the Arsenal keeper, and we’re blessed to have someone this good between the sticks.
There was late gloss added to the scoreline when we were awarded a penalty of our own, Reinildo fouling Saka after Bruno sent him through, and the defender picked up a second yellow in the process. Saka took it himself and I think their keeper will be disappointed he didn’t keep it out, but it nestled into the back of the net to secure the win and all three points.
Afterwards, the manager said:
We had a really tough week, playing Chelsea first, then going back to Napoli, winning there again, and then coming here and winning again. We knew we’d have to go through certain very chaotic moments inside the box, to earn the right to win the game, and we suffered, but we’ve done it. Unbelievable players that we have, and the spirit and the courage to go again and again and again.
We all knew this was going to be a tough game, and Sunderland at the Stadium of Light are such tough opposition. You could feel the temperature rise as the game went on, as they came back into it and looked to cause us problems, but ultimately we had that extra quality you need to win games like this. The individual moments from Raya and Bruno stand out, obviously, but I loved watching the way this team deals with such relentless physical threat.
How many Arsenal teams have we seen in the past who would crumble in an atmosphere like that, with opposition like that, with a ref like that? This is a side that can play fantastic football, but it’s one that also relishes the scrap on a night like that. We shouldn’t underestimate just what a tough nut to crack we are these days, and remember that when people talk about the quality of a team, it’s not just about what you do with the ball, it’s how well you can cope without it, especially under pressure, and right now we feel like more or less the best around in that sense.
This was a really big win, a very important three points, and a reminder – if it were needed – that you’ll have to work really, really hard this season to get anything from Arsenal. I don’t think there was any lack of effort or endeavour from Sunderland, and while we had to live on the edge a bit at times, I think the manager will be really pleased by what he saw from his team. It was different to Napoli, but you have to be versatile enough to deal with different challenges, and we came through last night’s game really well.
Right, I’ll leave it there for now. Have a great Sunday folks, back with more here tomorrow, and an Arsecast Extra. Until then.
