XHAKA FIRST GOAL

Granit Xhaka was happy to score his first goal as a Sunderland player but admitted that we were lucky to survive the opening half-hour. He also spoke about Saturday where he will captain the Lads against his former club, Arsenal.

HONEST ASSESSMENT

“Of course we’re a little bit disappointed because we always want to give our fans, especially here at home, the three points. It was a bad start to be honest, the first 25 minutes was not good enough. Sloppy mistakes, too many mistakes for this level, but after that we got better and better in the game. The second half was exactly what makes us strong – those emotions, the team spirit, and the capacity to play because we have that quality as well. But in the end, we have to take the one point.”

FIRST GOAL

“It is always nice to score your first one for the new club. Everyone knows I am very happy here and trying my best to give everything that I can, day by day and also in the games. It’s a shame we didn’t get the three points but always happy to help the team.”

SCORED FROM KICKOFF

“It’s always good when you score closely after the second half begins, because you have a whole 45 minutes in front of you. To be honest, with a little bit of luck I think we could have scored the second one. We got a little bit lucky in the first 25 minutes not to concede a second or third, as well. In the end we’re kind of half disappointed, half happy. We take the one point and we move forward.”

UNBEATEN AT HOME

“We knew before the season that here at home, we needed to take points. We are doing well. We did struggle in those first 25 minutes but our supporters were there and it’s really important because you will have those types of games where not everything is going for us. The support we are getting here and also away from home is very good. In the end we need to see what happens after 38 games, not 10, but for sure if we continue with this work and this mentality then we can achieve our goals.”

ARSENAL UP NEXT

“We will have an opponent next weekend who is very, very good. I know them well, I know their staff, I know how demanding they are of each other. It will be an emotional game for myself for sure, I had seven unbelievable years there but we will try everything to get something from this game. We know where they are good and we know where they are not so good. At the moment they have confidence but we also have confidence, so hopefully we can get something on our side.”