At the Stadium of Light, Shadows Return

November 8, 2025

Stadium of light, Sunderland

Granit Xhaka came home. Once the pariah of north London, booed and jeered by the same stands that would later rise to applaud him, he now stood again on English soil as Sunderland’s captain — and as one of the Premier League’s most unlikely redemption stories. 

The Black Cats, reborn under Régis Le Bris, entered the match unbeaten at home and fourth in the table — the best start by a newly promoted side since Hull City in 2008. Arsenal, immaculate in defense and chasing a ninth consecutive clean sheet, arrived as the league’s immovable object. History leaned heavily on the night: fifteen Premier League meetings without defeat against Sunderland, yet all three of Arsenal’s away losses to them had ended 1-0. The ghosts were waiting.

The early exchanges were brutal. Timber and Le Fée clashed like flint and stone down Sunderland’s left; neither yielded an inch. The rhythm was broken by stoppages — an elbow here, a shout there — until, in the 35th minute, the pattern fractured. A long ball descended through the November mist. It dropped, bounced, and found the head of Ballard. One swing of his right boot, and Raya’s net rippled for the first time in thirteen hours of play. Silence, then eruption. The record was gone.

Half-time brought no relief. Xhaka, now Sunderland’s heartbeat, barked orders and embodied the chaos. Arsenal’s composure, however, began to reassert itself. On 54 minutes, Declan Rice stole possession high, exchanged quick passes through Merino and Saka, and the England winger drove low into the far corner. A statement, not a celebration.

The visitors pressed on relentlessly. Crossbar, near-misses, deflections — until the 74th, when Trossard conjured light from nothing. A drop of the shoulder, a feint, a curling strike from distance — his first from outside the box since 2021. The binocular celebration followed: the mark of a man who sees beyond the ordinary.

But football, like history, rarely ends neatly. In the 94th minute, Raya misjudged a cross. From an impossible angle, Brobbey struck — the kind of finish that defies reason and punishes belief. Sunderland 2, Arsenal 2.

Arteta’s men left the north-east unbroken, unbeaten, but shaken. The run lives on, though the aura of invulnerability has cracked.

Sunderland 2 – 2 Arsenal

(D. Ballard ‘36, B. Saka ‘54, L. Trossard ‘74, B. Brobbey ‘90+4)