Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal

By: travis | October 4th, 2008

That’s two more points dropped on the road. Expecting Arsenal to win every game is dangerous, but it’s something that I come to expect – not necessarily every single game, but perhaps when taking on a team like Sunderland, three points is the expected outcome.

For the second weekend in a row, I felt like turning the game off. It was frustrating – although again, the other manager seemed to have a plan – and humbling after a 4-0 romp of Porto this week. Another wonder strike almost was enough for Sunderland to come out on top, and if the people at BBC Sport know anything, end title hopes. Don’t agree with that, but losses against Fulham, Hull City, and Sunderland aren’t going to be of any help. Is Arsenal becoming like Liverpool of the past few years? (Struggling in the league while doing well in Europe) Way too early to say, haven’t yet reached the knockout stages.

Player performances weren’t bad, but they weren’t spectacular either. Almunia made a couple of big saves on Djibril Cisse, and you can’t fault him for the goal. Van Persie and Adebayor lacked the sharpness that they seemed to possess midweek. Cesc did well to equalize (with a header), but played a number of passes astray. Denilson had an up and down game, while Nasri could have done better with an opportunity late in the match.

Sunderland’s manager Roy Keane kept his men behind the ball, happy to concede possession and let Arsenal try and break them down. That almost worked, much to Wenger’s anger. Watching a team defend stoutly is no fun when supporting the opposition, but credit to Keane for sticking to a game plan and trying to hit on the counter attack.

Where to go from here? Even the most optimistic Arsenal fan would be hard pressed to admit that a title run is possible – at least if these kind of performances keep up. The players need to find a next level, and more importantly, a more consistent approach to each match. With each result, it will be harder and harder to unlock teams that will take a similar approach as Sunderland and Hull have in the past two weeks. I think things can change, but right now, who knows what will happen.