Anthony Gair says…
Big Dan Ballard — ‘nuff said!
The fact that he’s not being scouted by the best clubs on the planet shows that we’re one of the best clubs on the planet. That’s my logic and I’m sticking with it.
He was unbelievable. He won everything
in the air, scored an absolute wallop, and he looks about fourteen years old. Ridiculous.
Brian Brobbey does the business!
I know it’s the easy thing to pick, but I’m absolutely bouncing for the lad.
His strength knows no bounds and he’s probably going to go on and score ninety now. He’s absolutely mint.
Arsenal’s “anti-football”
They aren’t all that — they just manage games better than everyone else.
If they tried to attack, they’d probably have beaten us, but they just tried to waste time from minute one.
Ridiculous for a team trying to be the best in the world.
A mixed bag for Bertrand Traoré
He was prime Adama in the first half…and pure Djimi in the second.
Chemsdine Talbi and Simon Adingra are more of a threat. That’s all.
Calum Mills says…
Sunderland never say die!
As we’ve seen on several occasions already this season, this group of men will not give up.
They simply don’t know when they’re beaten.
Brobbey the bulldozer
His appearances have been limited but in his last three, he’s made two significant contributions that resulted in us picking up four points.
He doesn’t have the pace that Wilson Isidor possesses but he acts as a battering ram to bully defenses.
Slack and lazy individual errors
We have to cut this out.
We’ve gotten away with it in recent weeks but Enzo Le Fée’s willingness to try to play out with the ball from the back when being pressed by two Arsenal players was silly. A clear pass back to Robin Roefs was on but instead he tried to break out with the ball at his feet.
For me, Simon Adingra was the root cause of the second goal. Why would he let the ball drop on the edge of his own box? Bukayo Saka quickly nipped in, won the ball, recycled it and within five seconds, Roefs was picking out Trossard’s thunderbastard.
As a team, we’ll learn from the mistakes but a point against the league leaders and continuing our unbeaten home record is not to be scoffed at!
Gary Winter says…
Beating Arsenal at their own game!
I know — “We haven’t played anyone yet” — but let’s get a little excited as we’ve faced one of the best sides in Europe, the league leaders and arguably the favourites for the Premier League this season after a long barren spell.
We didn’t just score the first goal past them in eight matches — we matched them and gave them the hardest test they’ve faced this season! I’ve seen some great games against Arsenal over the years at home — including against some awesome players — I don’t remember being so excited by a match and result as this.
We showed Mikel Arteta’s side that they’re not the only team that can dominate the box in the air. Big Dan Ballard…what an assist that was to equalise!
Another raucous evening at the Stadium of Light
Sunderland were impressive and good value for their point.
We’re still unbeaten at home and despite better from Arsenal in the second half, there was still belief this wasn’t over. That was reflected by the noise following the second goal from Arsenal and our volume level clearly didn’t drop — as pointed out by the commentators.
I struggle to remember a period of time when Sunderland fans weren’t starting to make their way to the exits with ten minutes left, despite the scoreline. Clearly, as demonstrated by Brian Brobbey, ‘til the end means ‘til the very end!
The fans have bought into that, and long may it continue.
One or two silly Sunderland mistakes
After a spotless first half, Sunderland needed to keep that going: no risks, not dwelling on the ball in our own half.
However, within nine minutes of the restart, we’d lost the ball twice, inviting needless pressure. Indeed, on the second count, Enzo Le Fée had let slip and Arsenal were level.
It was unfortunate but it happens. Only despite the added pressure it almost felt like Arsenal required a Sunderland mistake the get that foothold, such was our level of performance and resilience to that point.
Hold your breath, folks!
Late goals are becoming part of Sunderland’s identity, and certainly in 2025, but when the goal happens but both sets of players come together, celebrating comes with a little heart-in-mouth moment.
Will the goal stand? Some reasons goals or decisions are not given means nothing is quite certain until the call comes…goal stands!
Thank goodness, cheer again! Get in, Brobbey lad. Minor panic over.
John Wilson says…
Another highly-charged atmosphere!
What an atmosphere and what a start.
The big times and the good times are back. We’ve waited a long time to mix it with the best and happy days are here again. The crowd was up and Arsenal’s fans were the quietest so far this season.
What a strike by Dan. They stood off him thinking he was going to lay it off, but did he heck as like!
‘Til the End…once again
We never give up.
Arsenal took the lead with a worldie, but when seven added minutes was announced, the crowd lifted the Lads and once again, we scored a late goal.
More joyous scenes and almost the norm now.
A botched moment of silence
They can’t seem to get these minute silences right, and I blame the Arsenal fans.
As soon as The Last Post finished, they started cheering, and then we joined in.
It was made clear there would be a minute’s silence, but hey ho.
A rare mistake from Enzo Le Fée
Slack play from Enzo to let them back in, and he’ll be more annoyed with himself than anything else. Not worth dwelling on it, as it was a great effort all round.
Incredible.
Lars Knutsen says
Sunderland’s togetherness shines through
This was a truly remarkable game of football which was utterly compelling for the spectators and provided one of Arsenal’s toughest tests of the season.
If anyone doubts that this Sunderland team deserves to be near the top, this result against the league leaders leaves us in third spot and what stood out again for me was the togetherness of the team, especially in defence and midfield.
Obviously the never-say-die attitude comes from somewhere — the head coach, the team ethic and from our captain, Granit Xhaka. The way we’ve gelled into a single unit that’ll sweat blood for each other is a strong characteristic of this season.
Taking our chances
This was a tight and intense game and neither team had many goal chances, especially in the first half.
Like our winning goal at Chelsea, there was an “route one” element to Dan Ballard’s opener. Once Nordi Mukiele headed the long ball from Robin Roefs down to Ballard, the defender’s first touch was excellent and the drive into the roof of the net decisive.
In the whole game, we just had six shots and we scored from the two that were on target. Brian Brobbey made another decisive contribution from the bench when he met Ballard’s header and forced the ball home.
One or two slack passages of play
There wasn’t a lot, but at one point I posted that Arsenal are worryingly good.
They’re a very talented footballing team and at times, I felt our approach was a little laissez-faire in midfield, where we perhaps didn’t disrupt their style of play enough — but this is only a minor criticism.
To be honest, I couldn’t really come up with anything else in what was a very gutsy performance. We played a huge part in a highly entertaining, top-of-the-table Premier League match.
