Arsenal’s superb run of form was halted by newly promoted Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. The Gunners will take a 2-2 draw against Xhaka’s Black Cats into the international break before welcoming Tottenham Hotspur later this month. It certainly felt like two points dropped considering how we conceded late on. Superb finishes from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard in the second half had rallied Arsenal in front after former Gunner Dan Ballard opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half. With only a few minutes to go, however, a defensive mix-up between David Raya and Gabriel gifted substitute Brian Brobbey a fortuitous goal to level the scoring. It’s the first time we’ve failed to win since late September, bringing an end to our ten-game winning run.
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Arteta shares mixed emotions after late setback
Reacting after the encounter, Mikel Arteta was left with mixed feelings over the draw.
“We’re obviously disappointed that we lost two points,” he said via Arsenal. “We knew that it was going to be really tough, really disruptive, a lot of stop and start, a lot of long balls. We dealt with that the majority of the time good, but we conceded two goals in a way that we should have defended better.”
He continued, “So overall, we’re disappointed with the result, but so proud of the players because putting into perspective what they’ve done in the last ten games, winning all of them with the amount of clean sheets that they had, with seven players injured.”
A timely break for the Gunners
Arsenal have managed to navigate a gruelling schedule of seven games in 21 days without any major setback in my opinion. Considering the host of injuries the squad has had to cope with, the international break comes at the perfect time. The limited options on the bench against the Black Cats were telling, particularly in attack, and Arteta will hope to have some players back fit before facing Spurs.
With Manchester City and Liverpool facing each other at the Etihad later today, our result could become less significant if they share the points. However, a win for either side will close the gap at the top, adding further intrigue to what is already shaping up to be a thrilling title race.
What did you make of our weekend result? Does it feel like two points dropped no matter how you look at it?
Let us know in the comments.
Benjamin Kenneth
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