Arsenal maintained their perfect Premier League start with a 2-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
The scoreline looks comfortable, but this was anything but straightforward.
David Raya saved Enzo Le Fée’s penalty with the game still goalless before Bruno Guimarães struck just two minutes later. Bukayo Saka then converted a penalty with virtually the final kick to seal the points.
ESPN’s match statistics underline how competitive the game was, with Sunderland recording 1.20 expected goals to Arsenal’s 1.18 and forcing Mikel Arteta’s side to win 38 duels.
ReadArsenal’s full Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal match report has the key moments from another important away win.
Here are our Arsenal player ratings.
David Raya — 9/10
The decisive player before Arsenal had even scored.
Raya produced a huge penalty save from Le Fée in the 56th minute and completely changed the direction of the game.
Arsenal were ahead two minutes later.
There was little else spectacular required from the Spaniard, but the best goalkeepers decide matches with one moment.
Raya did exactly that.
Ben White — 6.5/10
Solid enough during the opening 45 minutes without having much influence going forward.
Arteta replaced him with Jurriën Timber at half-time, which appeared to be a planned attempt to increase Arsenal’s control rather than a reflection of a poor performance.
Ezri Konsa — 6.5/10
A more difficult evening than some of his recent performances.
Konsa conceded the penalty which Raya rescued him from, although Arsenal’s centre-back otherwise competed well against a physical Sunderland attack.
Brian Brobbey gave him plenty to deal with.
Gabriel Magalhaes — 8/10
Excellent.
Brobbey made the game uncomfortable, but Gabriel embraced the physical battle.
He repeatedly attacked crosses and direct balls and recorded a team-leading eight defensive interventions.
Exactly the sort of away performance Arsenal needed from their senior centre-back.
Riccardo Calafiori — 7/10
Started brightly and forced Robin Roefs into an early save.
Defensively reliable and willing to step into midfield when Arsenal had possession.
Not spectacular, but another controlled performance.
Declan Rice — 8/10
One of Arsenal’s most important players again.
Rice offered protection when Sunderland threatened to break and helped Arteta’s side gradually establish greater control after the interval.
He also supplied the pass before Guimarães’ brilliant opener.
ESPN recorded Rice with 59 completed passes, the most by an Arsenal player.
Myles Lewis-Skelly — 6/10
A difficult opening half.
Lewis-Skelly was surprisingly selected ahead of Guimarães but struggled to impose himself consistently against Sunderland’s aggressive midfield.
Arteta made the change at half-time.
The fact Guimarães immediately transformed the game only made the decision more noticeable.
Martin Odegaard — 6.5/10
One of his quieter performances after such an excellent start to the season.
Ødegaard found Sunderland’s compact shape difficult to unlock and did not dictate proceedings as he did against Chelsea and Napoli.
Still worked relentlessly without the ball.
Bukayo Saka — 7.5/10
Could have opened the scoring in the first half and remained Arsenal’s biggest wide threat.
Saka forced Roefs into another save after the break before finally getting his reward in stoppage time.
After Reinildo was dismissed for the challenge which conceded Arsenal’s late penalty, Saka calmly converted with the final kick to make it 2-0.
Christos Tzolis — 6/10
A relatively quiet evening.
Tzolis found it difficult to consistently beat Sunderland’s defensive shape and did not have the same influence he managed against Chelsea.
Replaced by Eberechi Eze late on.
Kai Havertz — 6.5/10
Had two decent first-half openings but could not find the breakthrough.
His movement still created problems and his link play offered Arsenal more than Viktor Gyökeres managed in Naples, but this was not Havertz’s most influential performance.
Bruno Guimaraes — 9/10
Man of the Match contender.
Arteta left Guimarães on the bench despite widespread expectations that he would start.
He responded emphatically.
Introduced at half-time, the Brazilian scored his first Arsenal goal with a magnificent long-range finish just 121 seconds after Raya saved Sunderland’s penalty.
Against his former Newcastle rivals, after being booed by the home crowd, it could hardly have been scripted better.
This was the impact Arsenal paid £75million for.
Jurrien Timber — 7.5/10
A very encouraging return.
Timber immediately gave Arsenal greater intensity down the right after replacing White.
He thought he had marked his comeback with a goal when he powered home a header, only for the flag to correctly rule it out for offside.
His return is a major boost for Arteta.
Eberechi Eze — 6/10
Introduced for Tzolis during the closing stages.
Had limited time to influence the contest but helped Arsenal manage the final phase.
Martin Zubimendi — 6/10
Replaced Rice late on as Arsenal looked to close the game out.
Did what was required during a frantic finish.
