Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal: result and report

Report

Arsenal won 2-0 at Sunderland, but the scoreline makes the game look far more comfortable than it was. For most of the night Sunderland were level on chances, and the match turned on one miss.

Two minutes later Bruno Guimarães scored from Declan Rice's pass, so the home side went from the best chance of the game to trailing in almost no time. Sunderland were still chasing when Reinildo Mandava was sent off for a second yellow card six minutes into stoppage time. A minute later Bukayo Saka converted a penalty to make it 2-0.

Sunderland: chances made, chances missed

The underlying numbers show how close this was. Arsenal finished with 1.95 xG to Sunderland's 1.87, which is almost nothing between the sides. Sunderland had more shots, eight to six, and each team created three big chances.

The difference was what happened next. Sunderland missed all three of theirs, including the penalty, and they also hit the woodwork. Arsenal took one of their three big chances, then added the late penalty once the game was effectively over.

Sunderland also carried the greater sustained threat across the match, with the higher average attacking pressure and a peak Arsenal never reached. Despite that, they leave with nothing.

Arsenal: sharper where it counted

There is a fair argument on Arsenal's side, though. They put five shots on target to Sunderland's three, so their attempts asked more of the goalkeeper. Their response to the penalty miss was immediate, while Sunderland were still recovering from it.

Saka was named player of the match. His stoppage-time penalty, however, settled a result that Guimarães had already put in Arsenal's hands.