A rejuvenated Sunderland side held Arsenal to a goalless draw at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League on Sunday. The Gunners went into the game with the hopes of being the favourites to land the 3rd spot in the table and cement their Champions League qualification for next season. Premier League on Sunday.
Also read: Sunderland 0-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings
But the Black Cats were also in the mood to fight to remain in the top flight. Both sides saw plenty of chances to score but neither managed to do so. The draw leaves Arsenal at the 4th spot tied with Manchester City with 64 points.
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Sunderland were the real victors from the game as they come out of the relegation zone with a point to make it 31 points from 34 games, with a better goal difference than Norwich City.
Here are the major talking points from the goal-less game at the Stadium of Light:
A penalty denied to both sides
The game started in typical Arsenal fashion as the Gunners kept the possession and put pressure on the hosts with their attacking play. But Sunderland were not too far behind in the game and broke forward on the counter attacks time and again.
The first half of the game saw both the sides getting enough chances but it was Arsenal who had the better chances to score. In the meantime, both sides also appealed for handball inside the penalty area.
First, it was Per Mertesacker who was caught handling the ball when Jermain Defoe shot at goal, but the German obstructed the shot with his raised arms. Referee Mike Dean did not think it to be a penalty and waved away any appeals.
A similar incident took place minutes later when Alex Iwobi was found by Olivier Giroud’s play inside the box and the young Nigerian’s shot was blocked by DeAndre Yedlin’s arms just in front of the Sunderland goal.
Replays suggested that both the incidents should have been adjudged as penalties and could have altered the result of the game.
Sam Allardyce is focussing on defence
With the draw against Arsenal, the Black Cats have now conceded only 4 goals in the last six games. They have also managed to secure three clean sheets in their last four games. The fact that they have got good attacking players in their squad, it is the right call from manager Sam Allardyce to focus on the defensive strength of his side.
He has transformed his defence in the past few weeks and currently they are one of the top sides in defence, given their statistics in recent games. This change has also been widely helped by the induction of a certain Jan Kirchhoff into the side, who arrived from Bayern Munich in the January transfer window.
The German has occupied the role of a defensive midfielder in Allardyce’s side and has been performing exceptionally. With the likes of Kone and Kaboul forming a very strong partnership in defence for the Black Cats and with fullbacks such as Yedlin and Van Aanholt, Sam’s side are the favourites to survive in the top flight.
The return of Jack Wilshere
Arsene Wenger welcomed back his long-term absentee Jack Wilshere into the side when he was brought in to replace Mesut Ozil around the 84th minute of the game. Wilshere had been out with a broken left fibula as he picked up the injury in preseason playing in the Emirates Cup.
The English midfielder spent all of this season on the sidelines and started running again at the start of February. But Wenger did not want to rush him into the side and made him recover properly, with an eye on Euro 2016.
The manager would welcome the youngster into the squad with open arms as his side has failed to seal the games against weak opposition.
As for Jack Wilshere, it will be a good opportunity to show his England manager Roy Hodgson that he is match-fit and ready to have a go in the European Championship. The midfielder made his first appearance in 11 months and was good on the ball for the 10-odd minutes he was on the field.
Arsenal lacked intensity
Arsenal took to the field on Sunday in a bid to finish in the top-3, making a good finish to the highly unsuccessful season. But apart from the first half, when the Gunners were having a go at the Sunderland defence, the visitors did not look hungry for the win.
As the game progressed, the players seemed worn out and played with a very slow tempo. If you are a side that wants to go out there and play simple football, then you have to have the intensity in your game but the Gunners lack it.
They have been lacking it ever since February and March, where they were knocked out of the FA Cup and the Champions League. Their manager has said after every game that they want to finish the season on a high and give their best in every game. But the players on the field are not quite doing it for their manager.
In the same context, if the manager isn’t satisfied with the performances, he should be making changes. However, Wenger has not made many changes to his team recently, and it looks like their fans are not liking what they are seeing.
Sunderland were not clinical
Sunderland should have scored at least once and could have probably won the game. It did finish 0-0 but the hosts were the better side. Even though Arsenal had a good first half, it was the Black Cats who got the better chances. Khazri, Cattermole, Defoe – all had shots at Petr Cech’s goal but they were not clinical enough to beat the Czech.
It was Khazri who got the ball off Aaron Ramsey and drove to Arsenal’s box, only to get his deflected shot wide of the target. In the latter stages of the first half, Sunderland had enough opportunities to play on the counter, but the likes of Cattermole and Borini could not play the right pass for Defoe and Khazri.
In the second half, Arsenal were contained by the hosts and could only have two shots on target. Had the Black Cats managed to be more clinical in their passing and in the final third, it could have been Sunderland’s game.
