Arsenal couldn’t pierce the Sunderland defence and had to settle for a draw, moving them back below Manchester City in the standings.
The Gunners dominated possession as usual, but failed to carve Sunderland open, particularly in the first half.
As the game wore on Sunderland became increasingly dangerous as they realized they might be able to steal three points.
Each team had a penalty shout for handball in the opening half, as well as free kicks which both came close.
Van Aanholt’s free kick hit the the corner of the goalpost, while Sanchez’s produced a fine save from Mannone.
In the second half Cech made a fine save off Defoe, as well as other saves off Khazri and M’Vila. Sunderland came close to scoring off a couple of corners as well.
Arsenal’s play in the final third was sloppy as usual and they blew a number of chances to steal the victory.
Player Ratings:
Cech 8: He made up for last week’s debacle. He made an excellent save off Defoe, as well as several other saves. Luckily Defoe lobbed left of goal when it was wide open a little later.
Bellerin 5: He had his hands full dealing with Khazri, who became more confident as the game wore on. He was also lucky to get away with a sloppy header that almost led to a Sunderland goal in the first half.
Mertesacker 7: He actually had a pretty good game, although he lost Defoe momentarily and he almost scored. Was lucky the referee didn’t call a penalty because of his inadvertent handball.
Koscielny 7: He had a decent game, making a game saving interception off Defoe’s pass to Borini. Bizarrely on one corner he ducked and the ball almost fell to Kone who could’ve scored.
Monreal 6: He made a couple of poor crosses in the first half. Nacho was generally sound, but had his hands full at the end dealing with Watmore.
Elneny 7: Good energy levels throughout the match. Generally plays it safe most of the time.
Ramsey 6: Wasteful would describe his game. He made poor decisions while attacking, gave the ball away a number of times, and is not suited to playing as a defensive midfielder.
Ozil 6: Was mainly anonymous, particularly in the second half. Has been stuck on 18 assists for what seems like three months now. His set pieces are not up to the needed standard right now.
Sanchez 7: Probably the best player on the day, but couldn’t make things happen in the box. Had a fine free kick saved by Mannone and had a couple of other efforts as well.
Giroud 5: Struggling right now, but he received poor service for most of the day. He had several half chances from acute angles, which produced nothing. Was caught offside a couple of times as well.
Iwobi 6: He made several very promising runs, only to make poor choices and fail to finish off the moves. He was unlucky not to be awarded a penalty for a Sunderland handball from his shot in the first half. He missed a couple of good chances to score, particularly once when he had the goal almost at his mercy.
Substitutes:
Walcott 6: He made several decent crosses into the box, but nobody was able to take advantage.
Welbeck 5: Unable to make an impact in his time on the field.
Wilshere n/a: Good to see him back for the last ten minutes.