A Weekend of Premier League Surprises: Arsenal’s Setback, Sunderland’s Rise, and City’s Statement

Heading Into the Weekend 

Heading into the weekend, six teams were on tired legs from the past week’s UEFA Champions League action. The Premier League demonstrated its European prowess with all six teams going unbeaten. Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Manchester City Football Clubs each had easy wins: 3–0, 4–0, and 4–1 respectively. Liverpool Football Club had a big 1–0 win against a star-studded Real Madrid Club de Fútbol and former player Trent Alexander-Arnold. Newcastle United Football Club also pulled out a 2–0 win against Athletic Club, while Chelsea Football Club had a disappointing night, tying Qarabag Futbol Klubu 2–2. 

Matchweek 11

To start the 11th matchweek, Sunderland Association Football Club took on Arsenal at home at the Stadium of Light. The game began as expected: Arsenal in possession of the ball and Sunderland settling in defensively. In the 15th minute, Granit Xhaka, former Arsenal captain, showed his leadership qualities by pushing young teammates away from arguing after the referee made a controversial call on the top of the box. Declan Rice stepped up to take it, hoping to replicate his previous beautiful free kicks, but goalkeeper Robin Roefs punched it wide. Sunderland sat in a low block, and when they did press, a center-back (often Daniel Ballard) stepped to a center midfielder, switching the four in the back to a three, giving them a pressing advantage but leaving them open for counters. While Arsenal had most of the possession, each side had opportunities, but the deadlock was broken in the 36th minute. Martín Zubimendi fouled Wilson Isidor just past the center circle in the Sunderland end. Roefs heaved it to the right, just outside the 18. Ballard went up for it, disrupting Rice, and allowing Nordi Mukiele to get ahead on it. The ball found its way back to Ballard and his first touch set him up to smash the ball into the roof of the net, an unstoppable shot at that power and accuracy. Ballard celebrated with arms flexed at his boyhood club of 14 years. 

Arsenal did not rest, if only spurred on further by the deficit. In the third minute of stoppage time, William Saliba sailed one over the net after Bukayo Saka crossed it in towards the penalty area, and the half ended 1–0 in favor of Sunderland. Coming out of the locker rooms, both teams maintained their energy. Saka entered the 51st minute by dragging a shot just wide, keeping pressure on the back line. The Sunderland block finally collapsed in the 53rd minute. The Black Cats attempted once more to build out of the back, and this time the Arsenal press bounced. Enzo Le Fée received the ball in the middle of the pitch and took a few too many touches trying to turn. Rice was able to dispossess, and Eberechi Eze swooped in to play it to the top of the box to Mikel Merino. Merino slipped it right to Saka, who found the gap on the near post. 

Arsenal was hunting for the game winner with chance after chance. In the 74th minute, Leandro Trossard had the ball in the right half-space with plenty of defenders in front. He shifted his defender back and forth until finally separating a half yard inside and was able to find the upper 90 on the near post. While he was elated with the beautiful goal, the game wasn’t won yet. In the 78th minute, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya came up big: A long throw went in from the left side, and Brian Brobbey was there to force Raya to come up with a three-save play. In the 83rd minute, Raya did it again, making himself big to stop Brobbey’s break. 

The 93rd minute was when it finally came together for the Black Cats. Xhaka curved the ball across to the left side of the box to Ballard. Ballard flicked it on towards Brobbey once again in front of the net. Brobbey did the impossible, half side bicycle kicking it mid-air passed the incoming Raya. The legendary commentator Peter Drury roared out that “this place has a heart,” and that was proven not only in the acrobatic extra-time goal, but also in what came next. With less than a minute remaining, Arsenal gave their final push. Inside the 18 with the goalie slightly out of position, Merino had the chance of the game at his feet. The only thing in his way: former Arsenal player, goal scorer, center-half Dan Ballard. Putting his body on the line, Ballard blocked the shot, and Sunderland came away with a point against the league leaders. 

“Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley rang out around the Stadium of Lights. Arsenal were disappointed they couldn’t hold onto the win, but were still content with a point against the recently promoted heavy hitters.

Earlier that morning, Tottenham thought they had come back from 1–0 down to win it, but Matthijs de Ligt was able to tie it up in the 96th minute, ending the match 2–2. Chelsea had a resounding 3-0 victory over the Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club. Early on Sunday, Aston Villa Football Club had a surprisingly easy 4–0 win at Bournemouth. In the middle of the table, Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion Football Clubs tied 0–0, proving why they are nearly even at 10th and 11th place. 

The last, but certainly not least, match of the week took place on a rainy night at Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola headed into his thousandth game with the opportunity to cut Arsenal’s lead to four points. He made three changes from their win against Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, while manager Arne Slot did the opposite, keeping everything the same after a 1–0 win against Madrid. 

From the beginning, it was clear City came to play. Early on, Jérémy Doku was giving not only his mark Conor Bradley troubles, but the whole Liverpool backline. In the ninth minute, Ibrahima Konaté attempted to clear it but gave the ball away to Doku, who took a touch around goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, but was cut short after colliding with Mamardashvili’s knee. The referee pointed to the spot after review, an early chance for City to take the lead. Erling Haaland, looking to become the fastest player to reach a hundred goals in the Premier League, took the spot in hopes of his 99th. Mamardashvili had other plans, making a big save diving to his left, sending Haaland’s attempt away. While the score remained even, City’s dominance continued. On the few times they lost the ball, a high press, especially targeting the less technical center-half, Konaté, won it back for them. 20 minutes later, City’s Matheus Nunes had space down the right flank. With a lack of pressure, he took a touch out in front and lifted it in the box. Konaté attempted to clear it with a flick, but instead found the head of the Norwegian striker, who rarely misses in open play. Haaland’s header from the center of the box capped off a brilliant team move involving all 11 outfield players and 22 total passes, putting the Birmingham City Football Club ahead by one.

While most of the players in red seemed slow, Florian Wirtz brought light to the darkness. Connecting a few passes, skillful dribbles, and drawing fouls, he attempted to bring some life into his squad. In the 38th minute, the Reds won a corner down the right side, and Mohamed Salah whipped it in. Virgil van Dijk rose to meet it and headed it across the net passed the Man City goalie, Gianluigi Donnarumma. A flag on the far side interrupted the captain’s celebrations, signaling offside. 

Just before halftime, City earned a corner and played it short quickly. They connected from the right side, as Bernardo Silva slipped it to Nico González, who buried it into the bottom left corner with the help of a few deflections. While the deflections may have been fortunate, the shot was quality and always destined for the target.

Going into the second half, Liverpool knew they needed some momentum and eventually subbed on Cody Gakpo and Milos Kerkez to set up the left side. The Reds weren’t giving up yet. In the 59th minute, after a quick combination with Salah, Bradley sent in a cross that Gakpo narrowly fired over the bar. But not long after, City put the game to rest with an amazing bit of individual skill from Doku. Nico O’Reilly settled a long switch and passed to Doku at the top of the box, who bent it into the far corner.

Ultimately, it was a brilliant way for Guardiola to spend his thousandth match and get the Blues within touching distance of the leaders. For Liverpool, it was a great disappointment. Even though going to the Etihad is always a challenge, to have such a disappointing performance in all areas of the field will have Slot grateful for the upcoming international break. 

The Season So Far

Arsenal are doing well on their attempt to break the second-place curse, currently four points clear at the top of the table. They are 8–2–1, with the only non-three-point matches coming against top teams in Liverpool, Man City, and Sunderland. Their most impressive stat comes from their backline, who have not conceded in 8 games out of 10 with only 5 goals against. 

Man City is once again a team you must include in talks of the title race. They take second place in the table with a 7–1–3 record. Guardiola’s players have stepped up, especially Erling Haaland. He has once again found form as the best pure striker in the league. He has an outstanding 14 goals in 11 games, leading the top goal scorers by an eight-goal difference. Rayan Cherki has also made a recent comeback from an early thigh injury. His performances have highlighted his playmaking ability. Some have argued that he could be the new Kevin De Bruyne, but he has a lot more to prove to be able to fill those shoes. 

Liverpool have had some missteps compared to their usual ways. This past summer, they spent a record-breaking £446.5 million on signing Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz, and more. While the Reds had an impressive previous season, winning the league, Slot still wants to make the team his own in his second season. They had a run of four losses in a row against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Man United, and Brentford Football Clubs. Momentarily, they seemed to be turning it around with a win against Aston Villa, but their recent thumping against Man City proves they still have work to do. 

The most surprising turn of the season so far has been the run of Sunderland A.F.C., currently sitting fourth in the league. They were only promoted this year, finishing fourth in the English Football League Championship, but beating no. 3, Sheffield Football Club, in promotion playoffs. Their impressive start, led by captain Granit Xhaka, has brought back talks of 2015–16 Leicester City Football Club, who were promoted just two seasons before they won the league and almost got relegated only one season before. Sunderland is currently 5–4–2 with an impressive win against Chelsea and a tie against Arsenal. It’s hard not to cheer for a team with their history playing the way they are, but there is still a long season ahead of them. 

Tottenham are still riding on their first trophy win, currently fifth with a 5–3–3 record. Manchester United are showing signs of life with a 5–3–3 record, eight places higher in the table than where they finished last season. Chelsea got boosted up to third place this weekend following their win and are 6–2–3 with the youngest squad in the league, living out their potential. 

Payton Radosti can be reached at pradosti@wesleyan.edu.