Arsenal had it, until they didn’t.
Traveling away to face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, a late equalizer and a lack of attacking options saw the league-leaders’ winning streak come to a disappointing
end at the hands of a former Arsenal player (just not the one you would think).
The first half was about as frustrating as any half this season for the Gunners. Sunderland came out with a clear plan – outmuscle the Gunners, clog up the play, and keep Arsenal from getting clear looks at goal. They were largely successful in that, but a series of injuries and head-to-head collisions and fouls turned the first half into a stop-start affair that kept Arsenal from ever finding their feet.
In the opening minutes of the match, Mikel Merino was battling for a ball in the Sunderland box and caught an elbow to the head that stopped the match for a considerable time while he got assessed by the medical staff. It was a strong knock, and the makeshift striker never really looked quite 100% after. Could it, or should it, have been a booking and a penalty? You could certainly make an argument for it, but the ref nor VAR thought anything of it.
The first half continued in that same pattern, which played into Sunderland’s game plan. The stadium was noticeably raucous from kick off, and you could hear it through the broadcast. Every challenge was met with elated applause, and every challenge against them with the requisite vitriol, and the visitors had few answers for the intensity of the ground early on. They looked exactly as leggy as a side that has had to navigate a congested fixture list without attacking options would look.
Former Gunner Granit Xhaka was a tone-setter for the Black Cats, and fed off the energy of the crowd. If you hadn’t known that he was a former Arsenal player while watching the match, you would have never have guessed it, especially when he got into a trademark Xhaka row with Mikel Merino after being called for a foul on the Arsenal player.
The hosts nearly found the back of the net in the 28th minute. Wilson Isidor received a ball on the left and whipped in a shot from a tight angle that curved wide of the mark.
Eight minutes later, the hosts found the score sheet, which felt inevitable considering the tone of the match from kickoff. In the 36th minute, Sunderland keeper Robin Roefs sent a long, looping ball from just beyond the halfway line into the Gunners box that the visitors couldn’t clear. An uncontested bounce was met with the head of Nordi Mukiele who laid it into the path of former Hale Ender Dan Ballard. Beating Declan Rice to the ball, he held off the midfielder, took a touch, and punched it into the net from 7 yards out.
The entire sequence was incredibly poor from the Arsenal defense. Gabriel failed to close down Mukiele, and Rice was boxed out by Ballard before the bounce and beaten to the ball for the goal. It was a distillation of the rare passivity that seemed to plague the Gunners from the outset.
On the other end of the pitch, Arsenal were considerably poor in front of goal. Shot after shot were either blocked or simply too tame to challenge Roefs meaningfully. The Gunners managed 7 shots on goal on the night, but only a handful were close to challenging the keeper.
The match headed into halftime with the hosts in front and Arsenal looking entirely toothless.
Whatever Mikel Arteta said to his side at half seemed to light a fire under them. Just over a minute into the half, Gabriel found Eberechi Eze in the middle of the box, and his shot was blocked.
In the 54th minute, Arsenal finally got their equalizer, thanks to none other than Bukayo Saka. After being at fault for the first goal, Declan Rice made amends, dislodging the ball from a Sunderland midfielder who held it a hair too long after receiving the ball from Roefs. Rice passed to Eze, who one timed to Merino. The striker held the ball for a beat before laying it off to an onrushing Saka on the right. Arsenal’s starboy took a touch before slotting it into the bottom corner with his right foot from a tight angle, putting the visitors level and flipping the momentum.
From then on, it was all Arsenal. After a high-intensity first half, the hosts began to drag, and the Gunners began to find their rhythm. The left side was especially lively, with Leandro Trossard, Riccardo Calafiori, and Declan Rice combining a number of times to unlock the deep Sunderland backline.
A second goal felt inevitable. After scuffing several chances earlier, Martin Zubimendi rattled the crossbar with a volley from the edge of the box in the 65th minute, but the Gunners could not capitalize on the rebound as Eze’s chested volley from the penalty spot was blocked.
In the 74th minute, it was Trossard who came to the Gunners’ rescue and put them into the lead. With the ball on the right, the Gunners cycled the ball to Rice who quickly found Trossard in space outside the box on the left. Sunderland closed him down but made little effort to challenge the Belgian winger. After a quick game of cat-and-mouse, he took a touch to his right, found daylight, and leathered the ball into the top left corner, beating an outstretched Roefs f0r the lead.
Say what you will about Trossard’s limitations, but he has been one of the most consistent performers for the Gunners over the past month. His relationship with Calafiori has blossomed, and Arsenal’s best finisher rewarded the Gaffer’s belief in him with a rocket of a shot that should have put the match to rest.
Declan Rice looked to ice the match in the 90th minute with a long range attempt to chip the keeper, but his effort sailed just wide. It would have likely been saved, but it’s those sort of out-of-the-blue attempts that can be difference makers.
Sunderland nearly found an equalizer
In the 4th minute of 7 minutes of stoppage, the hosts pushed forward and Arsenal were once again punished with a ball over the top and once again, Ballard was involved. The Gunners were deep in their box and Sunderland sent in a ball into the box. Ballard beat Saliba to the header sending it into the middle of the box. Brian Brobbery battled Gabriel and managed to get his right foot on the ball while falling down which popped over the head of an onrushing David Raya in to the net, who hesitated to come off his line and failed to get his hands up to block the attempt.
Arsenal were close to another late set piece dagger when they won their 2nd corner of the match in the 7th minute of stoppage. Bukayo Saka sent a perfect ball to the back post, where Riccardo Calafiori rose up to head it on goal. Roefs leg blocked the attempt, sending the ball into the box. Mikel Merino lined up his shot from close range, but Ballard proved the hero once again when his lunging challenge blocked the Spaniards shot. A few moments later, the ref blew the whistle, and the points were shared.
I’ve got to give credit to Sunderland. Despite giving up the lead, they knuckled down and kept themselves from capitulating entirely. They were rewarded for their efforts with a goal that will have the defense and David Ray kicking themselves for conceding. They are a defensively solid side that could continue to prove a problem to other top sides down the stretch.
But on the other hand, Arsenal did themselves no favors. They were outmatched in the first half, and Mikel Arteta made one solitary sub when he brought on Cristhian Mosquera for Eze late on. The lack of attacking options ended up being a difference maker, and Arsenal’s injury crisis finally caught up with them. Arteta’s options off the bench in the attack averaged 17 years in age, with Ethan Nwaneri, Andre Harriman-Anous, and Max Dowman the lone attacking depth. The odds of one of them rising to the occasion was slim, but not injecting any energy into a stretched match late on was a baffling decision.
The defense was also uncharacteristically poor. Mosquera was a smart change, but part of me wonders if Myles Lewis-Skelly’s tenacity could have tipped the match Arsenal’s way in such a tense and physical affair.
This match stung. There’s no two ways about it. Arsenal will enter the break on top of the league with a 4 point lead instead of 8, depending on the outcome of tomorrow’s match between Manchester City and Liverpool at the Etihad. They will need to learn from this and remind themselves of who they are when they regroup in two weeks.
There are a slew of players set return, and not a moment too soon. Arsenal have shown their quality all season, but need to pick themselves up after crucial dropped points and a treacherous slate of games after the break.
Always Forward.
