Raya saved a penalty at the Stadium of Light, and 121 seconds later Bruno Guimarães scored his first Arsenal goal

David Raya got a hand to Enzo Le Fée’s penalty at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and turned it onto the post. Two minutes later Bruno Guimarães hit a shot from outside the box that went in off the woodwork. It was his first goal for Arsenal, and it arrived in front of a crowd that had spent the whole evening booing him.

The penalty Arteta did not accept

Sunderland were level and pressing when the referee gave them a spot kick just before the hour. Ezri Konsa was judged to have held Dan Ballard at a set piece. Le Fée took it, Raya read it, and the ball came back off the upright.

Mikel Arteta was still angry about the decision afterwards, calling it unacceptable and saying it was worrying for football. His side had just won, which tells you how much the call bothered him. Arsenal had defended the game on the front foot until that point, winning 15 of their 17 aerial duels in their own half, and Sunderland’s route back into it had come from a whistle rather than from play.

One hundred and twenty-one seconds

That is the gap between Raya’s save and Guimarães’ goal. Arsenal cleared, worked the ball forward, and the Brazilian struck it from range into the top corner off the underside of the bar.

Guimarães joined Arsenal from Newcastle in August for a reported £75 million, signing a four-year deal with the option of a fifth. He had been at Newcastle since 30 January 2022, which is the whole reason the Stadium of Light gave him the reception it did. Sunderland and Newcastle do not share a city, they share a grudge, and the home crowd spent the evening reminding him which side of it he had spent four and a half seasons on.

It was his first goal since the move, and it came in a match Arsenal had spent an hour failing to break down.

Reinildo goes off, Saka makes it safe

Sunderland threw bodies forward after that and Raya had more to do. The game was settled at the other end in stoppage time, when Reinildo Mandava fouled Bukayo Saka, picked up a second yellow card and left Régis Le Bris with ten men and a penalty against. Saka took it himself and scored.

Le Bris will point at the first penalty and wonder. Sunderland have three goals in four matches and sit 14th on four points, which is not a crisis in September but is not much of a platform either.

Four from four, one goal conceded

Arsenal have won all four of their league games. Twelve points, eight goals scored, one conceded, and that one was Morgan Rogers volleying Chelsea in front at the Emirates after 77 seconds last Sunday. Since then, nothing.

They go three points clear of Manchester City, who have played a game fewer and travel to Old Trafford later on Sunday, so the table will look different by tonight. What Saturday showed is a version of Arsenal that wins away from home on a bad night, with the crowd against them and a penalty decision going the other way. Mikel Arteta spent three seasons finishing second before last year’s title. This is what the difference looks like in September.

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