PLAYER RATINGS: AFC

Sunderland rescued a draw against league leaders Arsenal, who hadn’t conceded in any of the last eight or conceded twice since May, via a late Brian Brobbey equaliser. We took the lead in the first half through former Gunner Dan Ballard but Bukayo Saka equalised for the visitors not long after the break. A wonder-strike from Leandro Trossard with just over 15 minutes left seemed to break our hearts but we composed ourselves and fought back for a huge point.

ROBIN ROEFS: 8/10

Made five saves and commanded his box well, so can’t complain too much. He did fail to grab a hold of it at one point, allowing them to strike the bar but not sure how much that was his fault. Their first was a defensive error higher up the pitch and the second was just one of those that you can’t do anything about.

TRAI HUME: 8/10

He didn’t have the ball often but he was effective when he did have it. Won plenty of fouls to give us some breathing space.

NORDI MUKIELE: 8.5/10

Assisted our first goal and good at the back, especially in the air. He had a decent chance himself late into the first half too.

DAN BALLARD: 10/10

What a way to score from him, he absolutely blasted it after running into the box like he’s always been a striker. He was defensively solid too. Oh, and he assisted the second goal and then blocked one off the line

LUTSHAREL GEERTRUIDA: 8/10

Perhaps he dawdled on the ball too long once or twice but he dealt with their physicality very well and wasn’t scared to put a foot in.

REINILDO: 8/10

Lost his head a few times unfortunately but did well down his side of the pitch when he didn’t decide to just foul his man. Also involved in attacks and played a part in the equaliser.

BERTRAND TRAORE: 7/10

Unfortunate to slip over in the first half whilst in a great attacking position but I actually thought he was really good today and contributed a lot when we were out of possession.

GRANIT XHAKA: 8.5/10

Xhaka looked totally comfortable today and it was rare for him to be outplayed. He was particularly good after we went behind and without his composure I don’t think we would have found an equaliser.

NOAH SADIKI: 8.5/10

Sadiki did stumble at one point which gave them a very good shooting opportunity, luckily there was no major damage as a result. Other than that, he was brilliant and was all over the pitch (as usual). He also created the most chances out of anyone other than Saka and Martin Zubimendi (who both matched him).

ENZO LE FEE: 5/10

He was doing so well but I have to mark him down quite severely for that defensive error that caused us to lose our lead. I do think he was in space often but just wasn’t given the ball.

WILSON ISIDOR: 7.5/10

Isidor almost scored a few minutes before we actually did find the back of the net and he worked hard for the just over 60 minutes he was given.

SUBS:

BRIAN BROBBEY: 8/10

An absolutely fantastic bit of athleticism to get his foot on the ball for our second goal, as well as to get into that position. He didn’t get the ball often but he was good out of position too.

CHEMSDINE TALBI: 7/10

Did well enough with his limited minutes, only eight touches in total though so can’t go really high.

SIMON ADINGRA: 7.5/10

He was slightly more involved than Talbi. His crossing wasn’t the greatest but he worked hard to give himself plenty of space and should have been passed to more.

ELIEZER MAYENDA: N/A

Only played a matter of minutes so I’m not going to rate him but it’s good to see him getting onto the pitch against quality opposition.