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Arsenal fans believe David Raya was to blame for the late equalizer they conceded during their 2-2 draw with Sunderland in the Premier League on Saturday, November 8. Many opined that the Spanish goalkeeper should have stayed in his position rather than coming out to stop Brian Brobbey from scoring.
As expected, the Gunners started strongly, fashioning the first clear chance of the evening when Declan Rice’s free kick from long range was parried away by Robin Roefs.
Despite controlling proceedings, it was Sunderland who opened the scoring. Roefs sent a long ball into Arsenal’s box, which Nordi Mukiele headed into the path of Gunners academy graduate Daniel Ballard, who blasted it home past Raya.
Arsenal came into the second half with more intent, and their efforts paid off six minutes before the hour mark. Declan Rice dispossessed Le Fee, and the Englishman combined with Eberechi Eze and Mikel Merino. Merino then found an advancing Bukayo Saka, who made no mistake, burying the ball past Roefs at the near post.
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Mikel Arteta's men continued to crank up the pressure and turned the game around in the 74th minute when Leandro Trossard found the top corner from the edge of the box.
A relentless Sunderland committed bodies forward in stoppage time, and Brobbey salvaged a late equalizer for the Black Cats, beating an onrushing Raya to the ball with an acrobatic finish. After the match, furious Arsenal supporters were critical of Raya’s decision to come off his line for the cross that led to Sunderland’s equalizer, with one writing:
“David Raya is Arsenal's weakest link in that brickwall defence.”
Another tweeted:
“This feels more like a loss. No thanks to David Raya!”
“And why did David Raya came out for that ball in that situation? Your defender is already dealing with it. Sigh,” another wrote.
“Say it quietly, but that equalizer was on David Raya 🤦🏾♂️,” a fan opined.
“David Raya shouldn't have come out there. We move regardless,” another suggested.
“I can’t believe David Raya was this clumsy. He is to blame for this second goal,” another claimed.
“They caused us a lot of problems” – Sunderland’s Daniel Ballard on 2-2 draw with Arsenal
Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard was delighted with his team’s performance after they ended Arsenal’s 10-game unbeaten streak across competitions. Ballard was particularly pleased with their fighting spirit and aggressiveness. He told Sky Sports after the game:
“You saw again the fight in the team. The boys worked so hard throughout the whole week. We fight right to the end. The number of late goals we’ve scored – it’s brilliant. They caused us a lot of problems. We were camped in on the edge of the box. We knew we’d have to take our chances at set pieces and be more aggressive off the ball. We thought we could get something from the game, and we did.”
Sunderland are the first side to score twice against the Gunners across any competition this season.
