Sunderland vs Arsenal: 3 Things We Learned After Gunners Win

· GiveMeSport

Arsenal claimed a huge three points against Sunderland, but there are things the Gunners can learn from the performance.

Arsenal claimed a vital three points in their pursuit of retaining the Premier League title thanks to a 2-0 win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

The Gunners overcame some adversity during the game after David Raya saved an Enzo Le Fee penalty, before Bruno Guimarães scored a stunning curling effort into the top corner just minutes later on his return to the north-east. Bukayo Saka scored a 96th-minute penalty to add some gloss to the scoreline, having been fouled in injury time, with Reinildo receiving a second yellow card in the process.

The result means Arsenal have maintained their 100% record across all competitions, with five wins from five games, and just one goal conceded in the process. But there are still things that can be improved upon, and here are three things we have learnt about the team following their win.

It's fair to say that David Raya is the best goalkeeper in the Premier League these days, and unquestionably also one of the very best in the world. But after his excellent penalty save in the second half, it's fair to say that he is still getting even better.

The Spaniard infamously struggled massively during an FA Cup penalty shootout against Manchester United two seasons ago, failing to save a single effort and regularly diving early to give the opponent a huge target to aim for. He also failed to save any efforts from PSG players during the Champions League final.

But it's clear that he has been working on that with the coaches and staff at London Colney, and now he is a formidable shot-stopper even from the spot. It makes him even better, and also now means teams may have to work that little bit harder to get a result against the champions.

Arsenal struggled to create much in the first half, and looked shaky out of possession in spells as Sunderland applied pressure with the home crowd behind them. They were also dealt a blow when Ben White suffered what looked like a groin strain right at the end of the first half.

But there was no panic from the Gunners, as Arteta took to his bench to call upon superstar defender Jurrien Timber and £75m midfield star Bruno Guimaraes as half-time substitutes, showing the depth of the squad he has at his disposal.

Guimaraes went on to score the winning goal, and there is no other manager barring maybe Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid who has the talent pool deep enough to make such changes mid-game. It's a credit to the recruitment team and staff that they have been able to build such a strong and competitive squad.

While Arsenal came away with the victory, there were some question marks about some of the decisions that the manager made before and during the game.

With the strength and depth he has available, the manager continues to pick the same players over and over again, and it may eventually become an issue later in the campaign, like it did last season.

Sunderland away is obviously not an easy fixture, but the players he has available to him means he should be braver in making changes to the team to keep things fresh while also maintaining the quality of the team. Players like Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Guimaraes, and Piero Hincapie are all chomping at the bit for a start but being made to wait, and it's leading to slow starts and narrow wins.

Arsenal can and should be doing more to blow teams away by taking the handbrake off a little bit, and that's on Arteta being more brave in future games.

Read the original

People in this story

Related