Arsenal put pressure on Man City with title statement after Sunderland win – 5 talking points

Arsenal 3-0 Sunderland: A goal from Martin Zvimendi and a brace from Victor Gyokeres give the Gunners an easy win over the Black Cats – leaving them nine points clear at the top of the table.

Arsenal achieved a routine win against Sunderland, moving them nine points clear at the top of the Premier League. The Gunners produced a professional performance at the Emirates Stadium to put the pressure on Manchester City, who face Liverpool on Sunday.

Martin Zvimendi put Arsenal ahead with a sharp shot from the edge of the penalty area. This shot went through the inside of the post and hit the net. Declan Rice and Kai Havertz also went close from similar distances as Sunderland limited themselves to long-range attacks.

When Mikel Arteta returned to the bench in the 60th minute, Arsenal’s much-heralded strength in depth was once again on display. Six minutes into the field, the Gunners pounced on a turnover in possession, feeding Victor Gyokeres, who finished past Robin Rufus.

Sunderland were kept at arm’s length without much difficulty, as Arsenal managed the game with relative comfort, recording their 20th clean sheet of the season in all competitions. Gabriel Martinelli then added sparkle to the scoreline with a counter-attack in stoppage time when he converted Gokeres’ shot. Here are the highlights of the match:

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1. Zvimendi proves Arteta right

In his pre-match press conference, Arteta was asked about the fact that this season’s Premier League season has had the highest percentage of goals from outside the box in 12 years, and whether that was due to teams defending deep.

“Yes, the more density there is in the box and the more contact there is, the harder it is to score goals, especially in open play. So we have to find other ways,” the Arsenal manager said. “I’m not surprised that the numbers are increasing. The quality of the players is also increasing. That happened especially in basketball. The transition from two-man to three-man started getting incredibly high. It’s not that easy to score here because of the distance and the crowding (of players) gathered around the goal, but it’s another weapon to have.”

Zvimendi immediately took the lead with a perfect shot into the bottom corner. Rice came close a few minutes ago, and Havertz also bent his curler slightly wide just before the break. Arsenal had nine shots in the first half, equivalent to just 0.31xG, but still held the lead.

2. Jittali Raya

This doesn’t happen often, but Arsenal’s goalkeeper looked nervous against Sunderland. He had one of his team-mates rescue him in a clearance early on after coming off his line, and there was also a juggling moment after he called for a cross from a set-piece.

Early in the first half, Gabriel Magalhães berated the keeper for refusing to come pick up the rebound he pushed out. Things got even worse when Raya came out and sliced ​​brutally as she tried to clear, forcing William Saliba to mop up from behind.

3. Maduke fails the audition.

This was a big opportunity for Noni Maduke, who started on the right wing with Bukayo Saka unavailable. He was gifted his first Premier League goal for the Gunners after turning over an own goal in an impressive 4-0 win over Leeds, but he was unable to back it up.

Arteta started Maduke and Gabriel Jesus ahead of Gabriel Martinelli and Victor Gyokeres, but neither could produce anything against Sunderland’s stubborn defence. Maduke’s biggest disappointment was that he was unable to complete a dribble or find an important pass, and his only shot on goal was blocked. Martinelli and Gokeres were called up an hour before Arteta as Arsenal chased a second goal.

4. Gokeres find their role

Gokeres scored an incredible number of goals in Portugal and arrived at Arsenal with high expectations. He fell short of them in the early stages of the season, but now there is serious competition for the centre-forward position in the form of Jesus (and possibly Havertz) and he could be settling in nicely.

His goal here means he has scored in consecutive Premier League games for the first time this season, taking his total to 13 in 32 games. One of the mitigation points for Gokeres is that Arsenal are not using his strengths and that Jesus is better suited to play against deep defences. This game may have shown the way forward, where rotation will be key.

5. Pressure on Manchester City

Josep Guardiola’s side visit Anfield on Sunday afternoon in desperate need of a win. None of this has been convincing lately, and the idle pub-chat theory that “City will run amok” is starting to look outdated.

Arsenal settled down nicely after losing 3-2 to Manchester United, sending out Leeds and Sunderland clean sheets in professional style. And they have every shot as favorites to win their first Premier League trophy in 22 years.

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