Sunderland remembers the fallen
We should start by praising for the club for the classy and poignant tributes paid to those who are no longer with us after serving in various conflicts around the world and giving their lives when serving their country.
Well done to all concerned.
The Lads give their all in the first half
Once the tributes had ended and the bugle had fallen silent, the Lads got stuck into the first half with honourable commitment and valour.
While this was nothing like the levels displayed by those who’d fallen and were remembered, the Black Cats went into the game with no fear and a willingness to take on whatever they needed to in order to serve the red and white cause.
The first half hour was very much a battle for large spells, but we were competitive and defiant in equal measure. At times there were massive amounts of effort needed to prevent our lines from being breached and after a combination of poor execution and great defending, we prevented superstars like Ebere Eze from opening the scoring.
And then we showed Arsenal why we should never be underestimated.
A great ball into the box created confusion and conflict among the Arsenal defence, and when that ball was headed down into the path of Dan Ballard by Nordi Mukiele, things looked good.
The following touch and finish from Ballard was something else — a demonstration of skill that any Premier League centre forward would’ve been proud of. Sunderland were 1-0 up and the place went absolutely mental.
The referee added on nine minutes of extra time and on forty eight minutes, Arsenal’s centre back had a chance to get them level but skied the ball well over the bar. Mukiele also had a great chance after that, pulling a shot wide when put in by an Enzo Le Fée cutback.
The boys did enough to get in with a one goal lead and had a chance to regroup and plot how to take the result all the way to the end.
Arsenal hit back after the break
The Lads started the second half well and after only a few minutes, Wilson Isidor got in but couldn’t convert, with the resulting corner being wasted.
Arsenal then seemed to find a couple of gears, and after Bukayo Saka almost got them level, he went the whole hog, scoring in the fifty-fourth minute to bring the game to 1-1. Le Fée was visibly kicking himself after losing the ball in a dangerous position, and Saka slotted the pass from Declan Rice very well.
The game went a little downhill for the Mackems from there, with two more good shots on goal for Arsenal in the next — including a Martin Zubimendi effort which many thought was enough to take the lead.
Despite a few sniffs of goal for us, including Le Fee getting a half-chance just after the hour, Arsenal then hit the bar on sixty five minutes, just after Régis Le Bris had called up three subs in Brian Brobbey, Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra to try to make a difference in our favour.
The pressure from Arsenal paid off after they managed to gain the upper hand in the last quarter of the game. When Leandro Trossard was given a little too much room on the edge of the box thanks to a neat sidestep, his effort drilled into the top corner looked like it may have grabbed all three points for the North London table-toppers.
At 1-2 with only fifteen minutes of normal time to play, the boys were up against it for sure.
Enter Brian Brobbey — our latest goalscoring hero!
Fortunately, the lads in red and white had other ideas, including the big number nine, Brobbey.
His forays for a goal started in earnest in the eightieth minute when a triple save from the Arsenal goalkeeper was all that could keep the big striker out. Four minutes later, he was put in again by a Reinildo pull back but was denied by a great save by the Gunners’ stopper. However, when the referee added on seven minutes, our big unit from Europe couldn’t be kept out.
A long ball into the box was headed on by Ballard, and Brobbey got in front of his man and flicked the ball over the advancing David Raya with a touch of class and deft skill.
The place went mental, and did the same again a few minutes later when a save and block from Robin Roefs and Ballard locked in the share of the spoils for both sides.
Some final thoughts…
The Lads showed once again that the game is nowhere near over until the final whistle is blown.
The graft, determination, commitment and passion demonstrated by the starting eleven and each of the substitutes was a visual example of where our club is right now.
It doesn’t seem to matter who rocks up to the Stadium of Light — we showed that we’ll respect them but will give them a bloody good game, and the crowd will let them know they’ve been inside a modern cauldron of fire and noise.
We retained our unbeaten home record by scoring two against a team who hadn’t conceded a goal in eight matches. We’re in the top four, with nineteen points from eleven games, and we’re going toe-to-toe with some of the best football teams in the world, and showing we can compete.
We’re so back. So, so back!
