Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw by Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday evening, with the Black Cats employing a unique tactic to try and stop the Gunners
12:02, 10 Nov 2025
Mikel Arteta
View Image
Arsenal are set to hold a meeting about Sunderland's tactic(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA, Getty Images)
Richard Keys has suggested Arsenal will convene discussions on Monday following Sunderland's controversial decision to reposition their advertising hoardings during Saturday's fixture, with the former Sky Sports presenter expressing safety concerns over the Premier League side's tactical ploy.
The Gunners were forced to settle for a thrilling 2-2 stalemate at the Stadium of Light on Saturday evening, with former Gunners centre-back Dan Ballard opening the scoring for the hosts. Bukayo Saka restored parity for Arsenal before Leandro Trossard's spectacular strike appeared to have secured all three points, only for Brian Brobbey to salvage a dramatic late equaliser with an acrobatic finish.
The Black Cats had implemented a curious strategy for the encounter, discreetly repositioning the advertising boards closer to the playing surface in an apparent attempt to neutralise Arsenal's aerial threat from long throw-ins. Keys has now claimed the North London club will address this tactic, having raised concerns that such modifications could potentially compromise player welfare.
Speaking on beIN Sports, he said: "Sunderland did not commit an offence of any kind. What they did was moved the hoardings in with the idea being stop Arsenal using long throws.
"It's very clear the purpose of having done that, as long as there's a metre between the touchline and the hoarding. But in a time where we've recently had a fatality because of the proximity of a concrete wall, and I know it's entirely different, I just looked at that yesterday and it looked a bit close for me.
"That might be endangering the wellbeing of those on the football pitch. I know there's a meeting at Arsenal tomorrow to discuss.
Sky Sports discounted Premier League and EFL package
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
Content Image
£49
£35
Sky
Get Sky Sports here
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will show at least 215 live Premier League games this season, an increase of up to 100 more.
"No rules have been broken, Sunderland are well within their rights, but I'm not sure. On the one hand it's very smart, it's a talking point and it did go unnoticed by Arsenal and it was a subject of conversation after they'd left the ground yesterday so we'll wait for developments on that."
Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has already addressed the approach and confirmed it was deliberate in a bid to secure a favourable result. He said: "Yeah, we tried to find the details to win the game.
Article continues below
"They are really strong on set-pieces, we were good as well. It was absolutely obvious this threat was really important for this game and in the end it was balanced."
Saturday's stalemate has left Arsenal at the Premier League summit, though their lead has been reduced to four points following Manchester City's 3-0 triumph against Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium. Meanwhile, Sunderland's impressive beginning to the season sees them occupying fourth place in the standings with 19 points from their first 11 fixtures of the campaign.
Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel
Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!
By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.
To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!
If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.