Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0 with Bukayo Saka scoring the decisive penalty in the 90+7th minute to secure all three points at the Stadium of Light.
Bruno Guimarães had earlier put Arsenal ahead in the 58th minute, finishing from Declan Rice’s assist after Sunderland had missed a penalty through Enzo Le Fée in the 56th minute.
Arsenal started in a 4-2-3-1 formation under Mikel Arteta, with David Raya in goal and a back four of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and Riccardo Calafiori. Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly began in midfield before being replaced by Bruno Guimarães and Jurrien Timber at halftime.
Sunderland, managed by Régis Le Bris, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Romain Roefs in goal and a defence featuring Nordi Mukiele, Kevin Danso, Daniel Ballard and Reinildo. Enzo Le Fée missed their best chance when his penalty was saved by Raya shortly after the hour mark.
The game saw Arsenal dominate possession with 58% compared to Sunderland’s 42%, while creating more chances with 11 shots to Sunderland’s 12, though Arsenal tested the goalkeeper more with five shots on target to Sunderland’s three.
Discipline was uneven as Sunderland picked up four yellow cards and a red card for Reinildo in the 90+6th minute after two bookings, while Arsenal received two yellow cards for dissent and argument from Mikel Arteta and Gabriel Magalhães.
Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz all came on later in the game, with Saka converting the penalty after a handball decision went against Sunderland in added time.
The win moves Arsenal to second in the Premier League with nine points from three games, having scored six and conceded one, extending their winning run to five matches.
Arsenal will now prepare for their next fixture against Brighton away on 2026-09-19, where they will look to continue their strong start to the season.
You can review the full squad list on our squad page and check upcoming fixtures on our fixtures page.
