Arsenal maintained its 100 per cent start to the season as goalkeeper David Raya saved a penalty and Bruno Guimaraes scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 victory at Sunderland to move clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Raya rescued Arsenal by pushing Enzo Le Fee’s spot kick against the post in the 55th minute and two minutes later summer signing Guimaraes curled the reigning champions ahead.
It was far from a vintage Arsenal display against a tenacious Sunderland, which deserved something for its endeavour, but it dug deep and wrapped it up late in stoppage time when Bukayo Saka converted a penalty.
Arsenal has 12 points from its opening four games with Manchester City, the only other side not to have dropped points, able to join it if it beats Manchester United on Sunday.
Arsenal vs Sunderland player ratings:
Arsenal: David Raya (7.4/10), Ben White (6.2/10), Ezri Konsa (7.1/10), Gabriel Magalhães (7.5/10), Riccardo Calafiori (7.2/10), Declan Rice (6.8/10), Myles Lewis-Skelly (6.5/10), Bukayo Saka (8.4/10), Martin Ødegaard (7.0/10), Christos Tzolis (6.3/10), and Kai Havertz (6.5/10).
Subs: Jurriën Timber (6.7/10), Bruno Guimarães (8.2/10), Martín Zubimendi (6.2/10), Eberechi Eze (6.4/10), and Mikel Merino (6.0/10).
Sunderland: Robin Roefs (6.5/10), Nordi Mukiele (5.8/10), Kevin Danso (6.4/10), Daniel Ballard (6.0/10), Reinildo Mandava (4.2/10), Granit Xhaka (6.2/10), Noah Sadiki (6.3/10), Thomas Meunier (6.0/10), Enzo Le Fée (5.5/10), Nilson Angulo (6.0/10), and Brian Brobbey (6.1/10).
Subs: Wilson Isidor (6.0/10), Malick Fofana (6.2/10).
(With inputs from Reuters)
Published on Sep 13, 2026