**Sunderland**stood up to be counted at the Stadium of Light, halting the title charge of Arsenal.
Premier League opponents have struggled to even create chances against the league leaders, but the hosts had other ideas, breaking an impregnable wall through an emphatic finish from Dan Ballard.
Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard took initiative to score in a stronger second half showing. However, the hosts deserved something of the spoils from this clash, and **Brian Brobbey**produced an equaliser in the final moments, stopping a five game winning streak in the league for the Gunners.
Story of the Match
**Regis Le Bris**picked an unchanged lineup after a 1-1 draw against **Everton**on Monday evening.
**Dan Ballard**faced the club where he learned his trade, sitting in central defence. Club captain Granit Xhaka was also in action against the Gunners, for whom he played for seven seasons.
Mikel Arteta made three changes to his starting eleven after a 3-0 victory over Slavia Prague.
**Riccardo Calafiori**came in for Piero Hincapie as the left back and the rest of the defence was the same. **Martin Zubimendi**was not suspended for domestic action, so he was back in the midfield with Eberechi Eze to join Declan Rice. Mikel Merino continued as a replacement for Viktor Gyökeres.
**Sunderland**started the brighter of the two teams: in the first minute, Wilson Isidor hustled to close down David Raya and forced an errant pass out of the goalkeeper. The hosts were willing to take territory where possible and probed with the long throw-ins of Nordi Mukiele, galvanising the crowd.
The Gunners got an additional blow as Ballard barrelled into Merino with a flailing elbow, leaving the Spaniard crumpled on the floor. Fears were growing for the guests, whose offensive department has been threadbare in recent weeks, but the medical staff passed the makeshift striker as fine to play on.
**Declan Rice**rattled off a couple of efforts to try to test Robin Roefs while Eze sliced a shot over the bar. Arsenal could not generate much momentum against the Black Cats in an attritional encounter.
The longer that the scoreline was level, the more confidence the hosts could build. Isidor released **Bertrand Traoré**to run down the right channel of the box, but the forward slipped. The striker then smelt out an opportunity as **Arsenal**hesitantly dealt with a duel, flashing the ball wide of the target.
Eventually, a big chance came their way. Isidor wriggled away from Zubimendi, who tugged him and received a yellow card. Roefs went long, Ballard unnerved Rice in an aerial duel, and then ran onto a Mukiele knockdown before hammering the ball into the back of the net beyond Raya. Unabashedly celebrating against his old club, the defender ended a run of over 13 hours without conceding a goal.
Sunderland sat deeper in their 5-4-1 formation, willing to soak up pressure from the Gunners. With nine minutes of injury time added on at the end of the first half, the time was available to probe. An equaliser could have arrived if William Saliba settled himself when he swung a boot at a knockdown from Bukayo Saka, but the defender dug out a wild half volley that did not trouble Roefs at all.
Half time arrived with Arsenal in a situation that they have only encountered once before this season on a **Premier League**away day: their trip to St. James’ Park against Newcastle United. With the psychological barrier broken against the Toon in September, there was no need to panic for now.
Yet, an improvement in intensity was a minimum requirement for the Gunners, who were getting closer. At the start of the second half, Saka dragged a shot wide of the mark as Arsenal upped the tempo. The league leaders had not been at their best, but they had the quality to punish sloppiness.
Enzo La Fee would be the man to let the focus slip. Rather than committing to the focus of more direct play, he loitered on the ball, and Rice recognised the moment to pounce. He seized possession, Eze and Merino made the path towards Saka, and the winger slammed a shot into the smallest of gaps.
With the wind in their sails, the visitors vied for the lead. Leandro Trossard feathered the ball between the legs of Traore, and Zubimendi poked an effort close to the target. Minutes later, Eze approached the edge of the penalty area, thrashing a fierce strike off a rebound that Roefs collected.
Le Bris saw the hosts could do with fresh legs, making a triple substitution. **Brian Brobbey**stepped in for Isidor, Simon Adingra swapped in for La Fee, and Chemsdine Talbi took the place of Traore.
The Gunners were intent on maximising their momentum before that trio could make a difference. Immediately, Roefs punched away a cross, and the ball fell for Zubimendi, who smacked the bar.
Arteta had no senior attackers to throw on to force the issue, but one of his starters conjured up a moment of magic. The ball flowed out to Trossard on the left of the attack, and the winger shimmied to throw off Noah Sadiki, stepping inside before unleashing a cannoned effort into the top corner.
Arsenal were not out of the woods. Another throw-in from Mukiele wreaked havoc as Brobbey got a toe on the ball at the far post. Raya repelled him with a miraculous triple save. The offside flag would have chalked off any potential finish from the Dutchman, but the message had gone out clearly.
Still Sunderland threatened. The **Stadium of Light**roared as Mukiele caught out Rice with a blindsided tackle and set off a counter. Nothing happened from the first phase of play but another attack left Reinildo running freely into the centre of the box. However, his touch was too loose, and Raya raced off his line to smother any possible strike from Brobbey, preserving the advantage.
Both managers responded to the game state. Geertruida gave way to Eliezer Mayenda as the Black Cats changed to a back four. Their opponents went the other way as Eze made way for Christian Mosquera to line up with a back five, looking to hold on across the seven minutes of injury time.
Defensive discipline could not contain the hosts. Ballard threw himself at a clipped cross, and Raya tried to close down the second ball. Brobbey flicked out his boot before Gabriel Magalhaes made any impact with his head, and the crucial contact forced the ball into the back of the net. Cue bedlam.
Arsenal hurriedly searched for a third goal. Merino seemed as if he would make his mark, thrashing a goal bound effort at the target. However, Ballard blocked bravely, and the game remained deadlocked.
Player of the Match: Daniel Ballard
All the talk before kickoff was about a reunion for Granit Xhaka, who led admirably in the middle of the park, but the man at the heart of the critical moments emerged as a previously unspoken figure.
Daniel Ballard might have been fuelled to give his best after failing to make the grade at Arsenal, but his bravery and aerial presence are nothing new to fans at the Stadium of Light. On an evening when the hosts put in a physical performance, the defender led by example in both of the boxes.
Key to both Sunderland goals and responsible for preventing a winner, he will rightly get his flowers.