Reflections on Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal
Sunderland managed to continue their strong start to the Premier League season through a tricky run of fixtures
The final Premier League fixtures before the international break were notable for many different reasons but if you are a newly-promoted team, your attention will likely be drawn to the relegation zone.
Perhaps inevitably, the slow starters are fighting back. After a sluggish start, Nuno has led his West Ham United side to back-to-back wins and while it's a club with some major issues, his record over a period of time suggests this improvement in organisation and output will be no flash in the fan. Just below, Nottingham Forest are showing signs of recovering from his acrimonious departure from the City Ground in the early weeks of the season. They have a squad packed with talent and Sean Dyche looks to have steadied the ship, with four points taken from the last two games. Burnley now sit outside the bottom three on goal difference alone, Leeds United just one point above them.
It's a reminder of just how important Sunderland's strong start has been, and a reminder of why there cannot be any complacency (there won't be) behind the scenes on Wearside. It's worth remembering that while they came into this block of four games having made an excellent start, there was some pressure heading into that Wolves game at the Stadium of Light. Sunderland enjoyed a healthy advantage over their opponents at the time, but there was some hope for Wolves that they had turned a corner having drawn with Spurs and Brighton in the two fixtures previous. Only late goals conceded in both had prevented them from getting their campaign up and running with a pair of significant scalps. Sunderland had lost to Manchester United before the break and had they lost this one, the gap would have been cut ahead of their first tests against traditional big-six opposition. It was far from a sparkling performance and especially at the start of the second half, but Sunderland handled the occasion very well in the first and were by the end deserving of their 2-0 win. It also snuffed out any feeling of a potential revival under Vitor Pereira. Though Rob Edwards will be confirmed as their new head coach this week, they have a mountain to climb from here on in.
It was a win that significantly bolstered Sunderland's position, particularly as the sense was that reality might then come to bite for Sunderland in the weeks that followed. Not a bit of it. That Sunderland have come through this block of four fixtures unbeaten has put to bed any lingering doubts about their quality, and the perception that their impressive early points haul owed much to the generosity of the fixture computer. They went to Chelsea and beat them, not with a smash-and-grab but with an impressive performance in and out of possession. They then became only the third team to deny Mikel Arteta's side a win this season, the other two being Liverpool and Manchester City. Though Arsenal at times looked a class above in the second half, Sunderland were ferociously competitive and that they were able to come away with something from the game was no fluke.
That there was frustration that a slow start denied Sunderland claiming all three points against Everton is a reflection of how far the Black Cats have come in a very short space of time. It has been a very successful period for Régis Le Bris and his side in terms of points first and foremost, but perhaps even more so for how it has bolstered a growing mood of optimism on Wearside. The atmosphere at the Stadium of Light gets better with each passing game, a positive cycle in which the team gets tougher to beat and the fans respond again in kind. Most importantly, Sunderland now genuinely have the belief that they can take points off any team at any venue in the Premier League.
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They'll need it, too. They face Fulham and then a Bournemouth side flying high after the international break, before a brutal run of December fixtures coincides with a number of senior players departing for the Africa Cup of Nations. It remains possible that their form dips slightly, but it now feels increasingly difficult to see such a competitive and resilient side allowing it to slump completely.
In each of Sunderland's last three fixtures, they came from behind to get something out of the game. Take away those five hard-earned points, and there might be just a little bit of nervousness looking to those resurgent West Ham and Nottingham Forest teams ahead of next month's fixtures. Instead Sunderland fans are dreaming of just how far this team can go this season. Though many more lie ahead, they have passed a test in this last month that many thought would trip them up.
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