Nordi Mukiele dazzles – Sunderland’s three winners in draw vs Arsenal
Sunderland earned a huge point against league leaders Arsenal as they battled back from going behind to draw 2-2 through Brian Brobbey’s late goal.
Sunderland drew first blood on Wearside as Dan Ballard broke through from Nordi Mukiele‘s knock-down to fire past David Raya before the break.
Arsenal hit back in the second-half as Bukayo Saka netted at the near-post following some shoddy Sunderland defending, then Leandro Trossard scored fantastically from the edge of the box to make it 2-1.
Brian Brobbey was the hero as he notched in added-time after holding off Gabriel Magalhaes, and Football Insider have picked out three Sunderland players that impressed during their brilliant draw with the league leaders.
Dan Ballard
Former Arsenal trainee Dan Ballard scored in Sunderland’s first game of the season against West Ham in August, and he grabbed his second of the season in surprising fashion here to open the scoring.
The towering centre-back spied his chance to burst into the Gunners’ area after Mukiele had set him up, and he sent the Stadium of Light into a frenzy with the goal that made them believe they could beat the league leaders.
Sunderland went on to earn a draw, and Ballard remained hugely impressive at the back as he made a massive block from Mikel Merino’s last-ditch shot to preserve their point. He deserves real plaudits for the way he defended the box all game.
Nordi Mukiele
Nordi Mukiele has been really impressive for Sunderland so far this season, and he was a stand-out once again here despite their loss.
He beat Gabriel to a header to set Ballard up, which is something that very few players can say they have done over the years, and he won all three of his aerial duels up against Mikel Merino.
The 28-year-old kept pressing and making life difficult for the Gunners’ attackers and midfielders when they tried to attack and will certainly continue to be a key man for Regis Le Bris going forward.
Noah Sadiki
Noah Sadiki has struggled with injuries this season since joining Sunderland in the summer, and he proved just how important he is to their side with an excellent showing against the league leaders.
The 20-year-old created the most chances of any player in the match (2), despite being on the losing side, while he had 88% pass accuracy and made a whopping 13 defensive contributions.
He worked mightily hard to help the Black Cats defend their lead, but even though that proved futile, he still deserves credit for the huge shift that he put in.