As the final whistle blew Bruno Guimãraes wore a mischievous smile, Enzo Le Fée was a study in dejection and Arsenal’s immaculate start to the season remained unblemished.
Two minutes after David Raya had, rather majestically, saved Le Fée’s second half penalty, Guimãraes delighted both his new north London, public and plenty of old friends in Newcastle by sending a shot curving past Robin Roefs.
Yet no one should be deceived by the emphasis lent to the scoreline by Bukayo Saka’s stoppage-time penalty and Reinildo’s sending off, this was the toughest of tests for Mikel Arteta’s team. If Sunderland can keep playing like this, Régis Le Bris’s players will surely enjoy more good days than bad.
That penalty miss aside, chapeaux off to Le Fée who has, deservedly, made Zinedine Zidane’s provisional France squad for the forthcoming Nations League matches. Sunderland’s attacking playmaker knew another good performance here could only enhance his chances of moving from long list to shortlist and he did not take long to draw a foul and win a dangerous free-kick.
Arsenal’s former captain Granit Xhaka delighted in curling the meanest of dead balls in Dan Ballard’s direction but the home central defender, a one-time Gunners youth captain, could not quite connect.
There had been a similar reprieve for Le Bris’s rearguard when Saka failed to make the most of Declan Rice’s fine early delivery following more stellar work from Christos Tzolis.
Yet, bar a Gabriel Magalhães shot from distance that whizzed just wide of Roefs’s goal, a Kai Havertz shot on the turn saved smartly and a low 20 yard effort that Le Fée dragged fractionally wide of an upright, that was pretty much it in terms of first-half goalmouth action.
Arteta’s side were taking their time to establish a settled passing rhythm. If Sunderland’s superb organisation hardly assisted the visiting cause, Arsenal looked a little fazed whenever the excellent Nordi Mukiele – surely another candidate for the France squad – advanced from right-back.
Ezri Konsa, meanwhile, did not appear to be either relishing, or winning, his extremely physical contest with Le Bris’s ever combative centre forward, Brian Brobbey.
If a packed Stadium of Light enjoyed that little subplot, the roof was nearly lifted off by the roar of approval that greeted Reinildo’s full blooded early challenge on Martin Ødegaard.
One constant was Arteta’s excursions outside his technical area and eventually the referee, John Brooks, responded by jogging over to the touchline and waving a yellow card in the Arsenal manager’s face. While that booking was hardly unmerited, it seemed a shame that Brooks was turning a blind eye to some persistent shirt pulling from both sides at corners.
With the match even, Arteta replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly and the hobbling Ben White at the interval with Bruno Guimarães and Jurriën Timber. The Brazilian’s past as Newcastle’s captain ensured Guimaraes’s every touch was booed, while Sunderland started the new half strongly with Brobbey continuing to bully Konsa.
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A penalty area encounter with Ballard at a throw proved no more welcome and when Konsa grappled the defender to the ground, Brooks had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Up stepped Le Fée but there was a fairly lengthy delay and Sunderland’s normally ultra-reliable penalty taker looked uncharacteristically nervous. He attempted to squeeze his kick just inside David Raya’s left upright but the goalkeeper guessed correctly and tipped the ball, quite brilliantly, on to the woodwork and away.
Then, two minutes later and very much against the run of play, Arsenal broke from another Sunderland throw and Guimarães curled a sumptuous shot beyond Roefs from the edge of the area.
As the scorer celebrated Arteta made a point of congratulating Raya, while Le Bris instructed Wilson Isidor to prepare to replace Nilsson Angulo. Sunderland duly shifted to 4-4-2 and a temperature that had already risen perilously closing to boiling point when Xhaka was booked for a powerful sliding challenge on Guimarnães continued climbing.
With no option but to take risks, Le Bris sent on Malick Fofana, newly signed from Lyon in place of Thomas Meunier, and the Belgian’s first advance into Arsenal’s penalty area prompted rare defensive chaos among the visitors.
Although it took Roefs, who saved superbly from Saka, and Ballard, with a header off the line, to keep Le Bris’s side in the game, while Timber had a headed “goal” disallowed for offside, Arteta had reason to look slightly nervous. Sure enough, Mukiele volleyed a Le Fée corner just over the bar and, with Xhaka now reigning supreme in central midfield, an equaliser beckoned.
Arsenal, though, are not Champions for nothing and when, deep in stoppage time, Reinildo felled Saka in the area another penalty was awarded. Sunderland’s left-back, who had already been booked, was shown another yellow and then a red card and trudged off. Roefs touched but could not hold Saka’s kick from 12 yards.
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