But as the game progressed, players looked to have heavy feet and a determined Sunderland made it hard for them to make spaces. The final ball was maybe not quick enough sometimes and our finishing was not the best.
Advertisement
Neither Sunderland nor Arsenal could make the most of their goalscoring opportunities on Sunday afternoon as they were forced to accept a goalless draw at the Stadium of Light.
“But it is another clean sheet and a very, very good point”.
Their destiny is in their own hands – and they head to out-of-form Stoke City next weekend, before Chelsea come to the North East in a fortnight’s time.
The Sunderland manager spent Saturday watching police drama Line of Duty rather than stressing over events elsewhere and, despite this point seeing his side scramble clear of the bottom three, he will know they are not out of jail yet.
Defensively, they look rock solid, with Lamine Kone and Younes Kaboul forming an effective centre-half partnership and Jan Kirchhoff continuing to provide a reassuring presence in front of the back four.
Both teams need the 3 points, both have a mountain to climb in the second half.
He said: “I would have been happy with a point at the start but at the end we got in the game and are slightly disappointed not to pinch it”. “You see teams with nothing to play for and think “I wish we were playing them”.
“When we passed the ball properly we caused Arsenal all sorts of problems, and for 90 minutes we defended superbly well”.
Claudio Ranieri’s side were without their top scorer Vardy after his dismissal in last week’s draw with West Ham, but Riyad Mahrez’s early opener, a brace from Ulloa either side of half-time and a late Marc Albrighton strike ensured they got back to winning ways and piled the pressure on Tottenham once more.
The Italian also showed his reflexes as he got down well to smother Mesut Ozil’s deflected effort from 18 yards as Arsenal pressed for an opening goal.
Defoe, left isolated for much of the half, saw his frustrations increase as he fired Hector Bellerin’s poor clearance straight into Mertesacker’s raised arm, only for referee Mike Dean to wave away his appeals for a penalty. He sticks his arms out, turns his back – when you are trying to block a shot, you are not supposed to turn your back. It stops a certain goal.
Arsenal stayed in fourth spot, behind Manchester City on goal difference and five points above FA Cup finalists Manchester United, but a 19th consecutive appearance in the Champions League is still not guaranteed as United have a game in hand. “That’s what we have to do and as we have learned from the past survivals and from other teams like Leicester, you don’t care who you play against, you just go out and try to win the games”. “It is a fight, and there are two leagues at the moment”.
Advertisement
“Of course. Tonight you have seen the team”.
