Arsenal clean sheet record ended by Dan Ballard in Sunderland draw

Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal 

The old adage about London buses is an apt one for Arsenal. Prior to facing Sunderland, they hadn't conceded a goal in all competitions for six weeks, eight games and 812 minutes. Some 96 minutes later, the ball had been in their net twice. And as the script goes, it had to be one of their own who finally breached the Gunners' goal. Daniel Ballard, now at Sunderland, was a former captain in the Hale End academy as recently as 2022 before leaving without a making a single senior appearance. Fast forward three years, at the Stadium of Light on Saturday evening, Ballard enjoyed a career highlight as he scored the opener against his boyhood team.

With 35 minutes on the clock, the Black Cats defender marched forward into the Arsenal 18-yard box, took one cushioned touch of the ball and thundered beyond David Raya with a ferocious right-footed strike. His jubilant celebration said it all: that's what you get for letting me go. Arsenal's steely defence had only shipped three goals in 16 games before this one. Raya, Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba have looked impenetrable this season, while Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori are often comfortable in possession in their hybrid roles. Only Liverpool had beaten them in the Premier League this term and that only came about from a fantastic Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick. But Sunderland, under the guiding hand of Régis Le Bris, have been ripping up stereotypes all season.

Those who thought they would come unstuck against Arsenal would be badly mistaken. Of course, Arsenal enjoyed their own chances on Robin Roefs' goal. Only Saliba will know how he fired over from 12 yards after a neat Bukayo Saka knockdown - had the roles been reversed, it might have been 1-1. Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard also provided half-chances for the visitors. But Arsenal's injury crisis in attack left them somewhat blunted. Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard and Noni Madueke all missed the trip to the North East through injury. Indeed, Mikel Arteta only had 15-year-old Max Dowman, 17-year-old Andre Harriman-Anous and Ethan Nwaneri on the bench as their offensive reinforcements. The academy graduates are undoubtedly talented, but asking them to rescue Arsenal's unbeaten run in a raucous arena with 50,000 spectators is a tall order.

Perhaps for that reason, Arteta opted not to turn to his bench and got his reward as Bukayo Saka fired home at Roefs' near post to equalise. The game transformed into an end-to-end contest in an absorbing encounter, with Raya forced into making a few fine stops to keep the scores level. But Sunderland's resistance at the other end was broken - and some style too. Leandro Trossard toyed with his marker on the edge of the box and the Belgian unleashed a 20-yard rocket that arrowed into the top corner to complete the turnaround. A win could've moved Sunderland into second and within four points of Arsenal. Arsenal, meanwhile, were dreaming of a 10-point gap at the top on the same weekend that Liverpool and Manchester City faced each other.

That was until Brian Brobbey volleyed home in the fourth minute of stoppage time to spark wild celebrations. At the other end, Ballard was heroic again to block Mikel Merino's effort after an equally magnificent Roefs save to salvage a point. It was another spirited display to prove the Black Cats aren't going anywhere quietly, after ending the league leaders' eight-game clean sheet record and taking points off them too.