Premier League: How Sunderland stopped the Arsenal machine

Perhaps it is the two former Arsenal men – Xhaka and Ballard – who best embody Sunderland’s fighting spirit.

Xhaka was the leader on the pitch, coordinating things in the middle, while Ballard led the opener past David Raya, provided an assist for the equaliser, and made a brilliant save in the final few seconds to prevent Arsenal from snatching victory.

Ballard began his professional career at Arsenal, where he was in the club’s academy from the age of eight, but did not make any first-team appearances before joining Sunderland in 2022.

“It’s a good morale booster to show that we can play against a really big team – probably one of the best teams in Europe at the moment – and I’m happy about that,” Ballard told Match of the Day after Saturday’s match.

“But it is just one point and we have a lot of work to do to achieve our goal of staying at the top this year.”

Alan Shearer, the former England striker, told the BBC: “Ballard summed up everything Sunderland did so well, with his aggressiveness and stopping Arsenal’s play.

“They are really, really difficult to play against, and there were plenty of examples of him and his team putting their bodies on the line. Arsenal won’t have many tougher games than those this season, and Sunderland fully deserved the point.”

The draw means that Sunderland has not lost at home and has 19 points from 11 matches, and is on its way to avoiding relegation, as it occupies second place, nine points above the last three places.

“Sunderland trained physically today but within the rules of the game, except for one moment in the first half when Dan Ballard collided with Mikel Merino inside the box,” said Theo Walcott, Match of the Day pundit and former Arsenal striker.

“They were well organized and I didn’t think they would be able to last 90 minutes.

“There is a reason why Sunderland will do well in this league. The Stadium of Light is not an easy place to play football.

“It was the most disturbing thing I’ve seen Gabriel and William Saliba see this season.”