Arsenal made it four wins from four in the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats played a gritty, physical game, but the Gunners gave as good as they got, and battled to the win. With a massive ***** ist from David Raya saving a, uh, generously awarded penalty that would have made it 1-0 for the bad guys. Minutes later, Bruno Guimaraes put one top bins. Raya made another brilliant save later in the half. Deep in added time, Bruno put Bukayo Saka in on goal, earning a penalty and second yellow to Reinildo. Penalty converted. Game over.
The Sunderland crowd greeted Bruno with a chorus of boos when he replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly at halftime. They take their rivalry with Newcastle seriously. Unfortunately, it was very much a "keep booing, it only makes me stronger" moment. You could see from the little smile on Bruno's face that he was loving it and using it to fuel him. His "I can't hear you" celebration to the crowd after he'd put one on postage stamp was absolute perfection.
Great call from Mikel Arteta to pull Myles Lewis-Skelly at the break. Everything was off from him — poor touches, cheap fouls — it simply wasn't his night. The manager also had to swap Jurrien Timber for Ben White, who appeared to have tweaked his groin. Because when ***** nal get one right back healthy, the other gets injured. That's how it works. Timber was excellent, by the way.
The ***** nal subs that came on later in the second half, Eze, Merino, and Zubimendi, were mediocre to poor. The depth is tremendous but Mikel Arteta has his work cut out for him to keep everyone sharp so that when they are called into action they don't, say, give the ball away the only two times they get on it like Merino did today.
The Gunners could have and should have been ahead at halftime, but once again, they were profligate with scoring chances. Bukayo Saka was caught in two minds on a leaping volley and only managed glancing contact. Kai Havertz shot over the bar from in close. The German striker also forced a smart save with a brilliant control, turn, and volley move. Saka also flubbed two chances in the second half — he picked the wrong pass on a 4-on-2 break and he shot too close to the keeper. The side could do with a bit better finishing, but if you believe (as I generally do) that finishing ebbs and flows, as long as they keep generated the volume of chances, someone is in for a real hiding.
#second
The Sunderland crowd greeted Bruno with a chorus of boos when he replaced Myles Lewis-Skelly at halftime. They take their rivalry with Newcastle seriously. Unfortunately, it was very much a "keep booing, it only makes me stronger" moment. You could see from the little smile on Bruno's face that he was loving it and using it to fuel him. His "I can't hear you" celebration to the crowd after he'd put one on postage stamp was absolute perfection.
Great call from Mikel Arteta to pull Myles Lewis-Skelly at the break. Everything was off from him — poor touches, cheap fouls — it simply wasn't his night. The manager also had to swap Jurrien Timber for Ben White, who appeared to have tweaked his groin. Because when ***** nal get one right back healthy, the other gets injured. That's how it works. Timber was excellent, by the way.
The ***** nal subs that came on later in the second half, Eze, Merino, and Zubimendi, were mediocre to poor. The depth is tremendous but Mikel Arteta has his work cut out for him to keep everyone sharp so that when they are called into action they don't, say, give the ball away the only two times they get on it like Merino did today.
The Gunners could have and should have been ahead at halftime, but once again, they were profligate with scoring chances. Bukayo Saka was caught in two minds on a leaping volley and only managed glancing contact. Kai Havertz shot over the bar from in close. The German striker also forced a smart save with a brilliant control, turn, and volley move. Saka also flubbed two chances in the second half — he picked the wrong pass on a 4-on-2 break and he shot too close to the keeper. The side could do with a bit better finishing, but if you believe (as I generally do) that finishing ebbs and flows, as long as they keep generated the volume of chances, someone is in for a real hiding.
#second
1 day ago
