For Arsenal, the international break comes at a good time.
Not because this 2-2 draw at Sunderland provides cause for significant introspection. There is no need for Mikel Arteta to go back to the tactical drawing board.
This was a creditable Arsenal performance, punctuated — and punished — by two uncharacteristic defensive lapses. Were it not for Brian Brobbey’s late equaliser, or Dan Ballard’s even later block, it might have been heralded as the kind of comeback win that is the mark of potential champions.
No, the break comes at a good time because it affords Arsenal some respite from a relentless fixture list, and an opportunity to bring a number of injured players back into the group.
Arsenal travelled to the Stadium of Light without Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyokeres and long-term absentee Gabriel Jesus. They are missing six attacking players, including all three of their centre-forwards.
“We have seven injured players, especially in the front line, so we were very limited with the options we had,” Arteta told Sky Sports after the game. “But this is the season. You are going to go through these periods. Those players haven’t been with us for the last two months and we’ve still done really well, so big credit to the team.”
Arteta is right: At many clubs, an injury list like that would form the central narrative of the season. Thus far, Arsenal’s excellent form has relegated the injuries to a subplot.
Arsenal’s second-half performance here was arguably their best of the campaign. Trailing to former academy defender Ballard’s opener, they reasserted themselves impressively, overturning the deficit thanks to devastating finishes from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard. Arsenal played attractive, threatening football, and looked poised for a rousing win.
Bukayo Saka scores Arsenal’s opening goal at Sunderland (Scott Llewellyn/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
But ultimately, the Sunderland match may have been a game too far for a stretched squad.
Over the course of more than 100 minutes, Arteta made just one substitution: the 88th-minute introduction of Cristhian Mosquera for Eberechi Eze.
Could fresh legs have helped Arsenal preserve — or even extend — their lead? Perhaps. Despite the absentees, Arteta had experienced players like Ben White, Piero Hincapie and Christian Norgaard to call upon, as well as exciting young talent like Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri.
But he chose to keep faith with those already on the pitch — to try to squeeze one last bit of juice from this group during this block of games. Robbed of the majority of his attacking options, he was reluctant to make changes.
It was not enough. Deep into stoppage time, Gabriel and David Raya were both beaten to the ball by Brobbey, who acrobatically hooked a volley into the vacated net.
“I’m unsatisfied because I want to win, and the game was almost there,” Arteta said in his post-match press conference. “But you know this is the Premier League and the manner that they play, they’re going to harm you in their way. It’s just one goal difference there. I’m frustrated because it’s an action that we can defend better, but as well you have to give credit to the opposition to do what they’ve done.”
Arteta can strike a crotchety figure in post-match interviews, particularly when his team have dropped points. At Sunderland, however, his demeanour was different: disappointed but not agitated. There seemed to be a rational acceptance of the outcome.
That probably stems from the extraordinary effort his players have produced across this block of fixtures. Since the October international break, it is six wins from seven games in all competitions.
Since the start of the season, Arsenal have played 17 matches in total, winning 14, drawing twice, and losing just once, by an aggregate score of 35-5. They are six points clear at the top of the Premier League, ahead of Liverpool’s meeting with Manchester City, and joint top of the Champions League group stage with a perfect record.
The team also kept a club-record-equalling eight clean sheets in a row between October and November, their best run in 122 years. Ballard’s goal was the first Arsenal had conceded in 812 minutes of football.
That Arsenal have done all that despite a series of significant injuries is a testament to their newfound squad depth, Arteta’s coaching and the commitment of the players. If there is frustration over a draw at the Stadium of Light, it is because of the standards Arteta’s team have already set this season. Arsenal go into the break disappointed, but not disheartened.
They return to action on November 23, with a north London derby at home to Tottenham Hotspur. By that time, they hope to have several from that starry list of attackers available again. More will rejoin the group in the weeks that follow.
They have given themselves a tremendous platform from which to launch their assault on the Premier League title. The race has barely begun, but Arsenal do have a lead. And the cavalry are coming.