Sunderland admit secret pitch tactic vs Arsenal to stop key threat
Regis Le Bris confirmed Sunderland moved the advertising hoardings closer to the pitch for their 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Saturday.
Sunderland took the lead in the first half through Dan Ballard but Arsenal improved after the break and were ahead through Bukayo Saka and a sublime strike from Leandro Trossard.
However, Sunderland responded well after going behind and were rewarded in the 94th minute as Brian Brobbey got on the end of Ballard’s flick-on to acrobatically steer the ball past the onrushing David Raya.
Arsenal were unable to capitalise on their set-piece threat at the Stadium of Light but their ability to launch balls into the box from throw-ins was hampered by Sunderland’s decision to move the advertising boards on the side of the pitch closer to the touchline before kick-off.
When asked about Sunderland moving the boards closer to the pitch, Le Bris replied with a smile: ‘Yeah, we tried to find the details to win the game.
‘They are really strong on set-pieces, we were good as well.
‘It was absolutely obvious this threat was really important for this game and in the end it was balanced.’
Arteta, meanwhile, conceded that Arsenal struggled to cope with Sunderland’s direct attacking approach.
‘We knew that it was going to be really tough, really disruptive, a lot of stop and start, a lot of long balls. We dealt with that the majority of the time good, but we conceded two goals in a way that we should have defended better.
‘After 1-0, I think the team reacted really well. We scored a goal, scored a second goal, really dominated the game and created more chances, and then at the end, they don’t need much, just a ball in the air, it’s a front-up ball where we can deal with that better. We conceded a goal, but we reacted immediately and we have a massive chance with Richy and Mikel to win the game.
‘So overall, we’re disappointed with the result, but so proud of the players because putting into perspective what they’ve done in the last 10 games, winning all of them with the amount of clean sheets that they had, with seven players injured.’
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