At the Stadium of Light on Saturday, Arsenal's Bukayo Saka may have thought his goal in the 54th minute would've been the turning point in a win against Regis Le Bris' Sunderland – but Brian Brobbey spoiled the party in the 94th minute and the two sides walked away with a point apiece. And a stat surrounding the Englishman's strike has emerged and fans are stunned.
Retaining their status as the Premier League table toppers, Mikel Arteta's side fought back from being a goal down after Dan Ballard notched past David Raya in the 36th minute. With an upset potentially on the cards, Saka and Leandro Trossard scored in the 54th and 74th minute, respectively, before Brobbey's last-gasp equaliser.
Given the tantalising form Arsenal were in prior to their meeting with the Black Cats, Arteta – widely regarded as one of the best managers in world football – and his entourage will have rued their chance to extend their lead at the top of the table as they travelled back down south to the capital. At the time of writing, they are six points ahead of Chelsea in second place.
Crazy Statistic About Saka's Goal vs Sunderland Emerges
saka arsenal
Saka has been an ever-reliable presence on the flank for the Spanish boss and Arsenal's forward-thinking play is much more disjointed when he's absent – that's been the case for years. In 2025/26 alone, the right winger has scored six goals across all competitions; three of those goals have come in the Premier League, two in the Champions League and once in the League Cup.
His most recent goal, a powerful right-footed finish at Robin Roef's near post, was followed up with an interesting statistic, which has drawn a mix of reaction from supporters on X (formerly Twitter).
Declan Rice picked the pockets of Enzo Le Fee deep inside Sunderland's half, Eberechi Eze found makeshift centre-forward Mikel Merino with a tidy ball, the Spaniard's cute ball then found a maruading Saka who finished a sharp attack with a thumping finish beyond Roefs. What has caught the attention of many, however, is that it was his first league goal outside London since April 2024.
That's right, Saka – who is, rightly so, commonly admired as one of the best wingers in world football – has not scored a goal in the Premier League outside the English capital since scoring in a 3-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in April 2024. In fact, that was 19 months ago, and he's played 12 away games against non-London-based opposition since then.
That run includes Manchester United on the opening day of the 2025/26 campaign, a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at the end of 2023/24 and, last season, when the Gunners travelled to Anfield in May to draw 2-2. In response, one fan said: "19 months is diabolical work."
"And they compare this guy with Foden? Foden is on Messi's level," another said once the statistic emerged on X after Arsenal let three points slip on the weekend. "Not spoken about enough that." a third wrote before a fourth fan added, "I still laught at the ones who were comparing him to Salah."
As they look to buck the trend of finishing second, a feat they have achieved three campaigns on the bounce, next up for the 24-year-old Englishman and his teammates is the first North London derby of 2025/26. The Gunners then welcome their bogey team, Bayern Munich, to the Emirates Stadium on November 26 as they look to extend their flawless start to their Champions League campaign.