Brian Brobbey’s first Premier League goal for Sunderland secured a well-deserved point against league leaders Arsenal deep into added time at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland scored a dramatic equaliser deep into second half added time to prevent Arsenal from moving nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table in an exciting match at the Stadium of Light.
Second-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard looked like securing the Gunners all three points despite going into the break 1-0 down thanks to a strike from Dan Ballard. However, Brian Brobbey stole in ahead of David Raya to make it 2-2 in the fourth minute of added time and earn Sunderland a well-deserved point in front of their own fans.
A quiet first half finally came to life when former Arsenal youngster Ballard opened the scoring in the 36th minute after some uncharacteristically poor defending by the Gunners.
A long punt downfield saw Arsenal’s defence fail to deal with the high ball and Nordi Mukiele’s header fell to the feet of Ballard to lash home past Raya. It was the Northern Irishman’s seventh goal for Sunderland, but amazingly the first that didn’t come via a header.
Most importantly, it proved that Arsenal’s defence weren’t invincible. It was the first goal that they’d conceded in any competitive match since 28 September versus Newcastle, ending a superb run of 811 minutes without any team scoring against them. It was also just the fourth that Mikel Arteta’s side have conceded in the Premier League across 11 games in 2025-26.
With Sunderland leading 1-0 at half-time, it was just the third time this season that Arsenal have been behind at the break of a Premier League match this season. In the previous two, they have recovered to win four points (drawing vs Man City and beating Newcastle). They did it again today.
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal xG
Less than nine minutes into the second half, Arsenal were back on level terms. Enzo Le Fée dawdled on the ball inside his own half before being robbed by Declan Rice. Just seconds later, Saka had the ball in the back of the Sunderland net, firing past Robin Roefs at his near post to score his third goal in his last four competitive appearances.
The table-toppers continued to pile on the pressure and Martín Zubimendi came close to putting Arsenal in the lead in the 65th minute, but his volley crashed against the crossbar before his teammates were unable to pick up the rebound.
A comeback was completed in the 74th minute when the increasingly reliable Trossard scored a wonderful goal from the edge of the box. The Belgian twisted and turned before finding a window of opportunity to shoot and his powerful strike flew past Roefs. It’s not often that Trossard nets from range, with that his first Premier League goal from outside the box in almost four years and ended a sequence of 33 league goals from inside the area.
Brian Brobbey twice came close to equalising in the final stages of the game, but two sharp close-range saves from Raya kept the Gunners in the lead. However, just when it looked like Arsenal would move nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table, Brobbey made no mistake with his third opportunity of the match.
Arsenal’s defence yet again failed to deal with a ball falling in their box, and the Dutch substitute stole in ahead of Raya to acrobatically turn the ball into the back of Gunners’ net to score his first goal for Sunderland.
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal Momentum
There could have been even more drama in the seventh minute of added time, but some amazing defending from Ballard prevented Mikel Merino from slamming home the winner, as the defender threw his body in front of the Spanish forward’s powerful strike.
The Gunners will be disappointed to have not seen the game out, but it a draw was arguably the fair result and proved just how competitive the Premier League is this season, with a newly promoted side going toe-to-toe with a favourites for the title.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Sunderland vs Arsenal stats from their Premier League meeting at the Stadium of Light.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal Post-Match Facts
Brian Brobbey’s equaliser for Sunderland was the first result altering goal Arsenal have conceded in the 90th minute of a Premier League match since September 2024, when John Stones scored to make it 2-2 for Manchester City.
Sunderland have scored more 90th-minute goals than any other side in the Premier League this season (5, including stoppage time), with three of these goals altering the result of the match in their favour (W2 D1).
Dan Ballard’s opener – as well as being Sunderland’s first shot on target – was the first goal Arsenal had conceded in 812 minutes in all competitions, since Nick Woltemade’s strike for Newcastle in September.
Arsenal failed to beat a promoted side in a Premier League match for the first time since May 2023 (0-1 vs Nottingham Forest), ending a 14-game winning run against such teams.
Leandro Trossard scored his first Premier League goal from outside the box for Arsenal. It was his first from distance overall in the competition since December 2021 (for Brighton vs Brentford), ending a run of 33 in a row scored from inside the box.
Premier League Stats Opta
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