Raya saves, Guimaraes strikes
Sunderland had 12 shots at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night. Arsenal had 11. The board read 2-0 to the visitors at full time, which tells you very little about the ninety minutes that produced it. Sunderland even won a penalty just after the hour.
Enzo Le Fee took it well. David Raya guessed right, got down sharply and pushed the ball onto the post. Opta’s official clock shows 55’40. Then 121 seconds later, at 57’41, Bruno Guimaraes curled one in from 25 yards into the top right corner. The former Newcastle midfielder ran towards the home fans and cupped his ear.
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Nine wins on the spin, their best run since 2004
Bukayo Saka wrapped it up from the spot in the seventh minute of stoppage time, after Reinildo Mandava was penalised for a foul at the end of a counter. The defender picked up his second yellow on the play and walked.
Four league games, four wins for the reigning English champions. Nine consecutive Premier League victories now, a run the club had not managed since March 2004 and the Invincibles season. It is also only the fourth time in Arsenal’s Premier League history that they have opened with four wins, after 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2022-23.
Titles are won in the dirty work too
Expected goals told the story of a tight game: 1.97 for Arsenal, 1.64 for Sunderland. The difference came elsewhere. In their own half, Arsenal won 15 of 17 aerial duels, and every single one inside their box. Sunderland played direct, and Gabriel Magalhaes and Ezri Konsa held firm despite the problems Brian Brobbey’s power kept causing.
Raya had last saved a Premier League penalty in December 2023, against West Ham. Since the start of 2023-24, only Caoimhin Kelleher, with five saves, has done better among top-flight keepers in all competitions.
Kai Havertz could have killed it off long before. He blazed a close-range effort over after Martin Odegaard’s cut-back, then was denied by a strong hand from Robin Roefs. Mikel Arteta eventually picked up a booking for stepping into the opposition technical area, his first in the Premier League since January.
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