Manager feels ‘pain in tummy’ at end of clean sheet run
Régis Le Bris praises his team’s character in ‘masterclass’
Mikel Arteta told of his “disappointment and frustration” after Arsenal were denied a win by an injury-time Sunderland goal at the Stadium of Light. A 94th-minute strike from the substitute Brian Brobbey claimed a point for the home side, who moved up to third place in the table.
“It’s not a nice feeling,” said Arteta. “It’s disappointment and frustration, because we wanted the three points. We had to navigate through a tough game. We knew that. [They were] very disruptive. We had to deal with situations that were obviously difficult to deal with.”
The former Arsenal academy player Dan Ballard had opened the scoring during a first half that had seemingly unsettled the visitors; asked how he felt when Arsenal’s club-record run of eight clean sheets was ended, Arteta said: “A pain in my tummy, because I don’t want to concede any goals.” His side improved after the break and took the lead through goals from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard.
