Arsenal go top of Premier League with Sunderland win: Stats
What's the story
Arsenal have taken the top spot in Matchweek 4 of the Premier League 2026-27 season after a convincing 2-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Bruno Guimaraes, a former Newcastle United captain, scored a stunning goal just two minutes after David Raya saved an Enzo Le Fee penalty. Bukayo Saka sealed the win with a stoppage-time penalty conversion, marking Arsenal's fourth consecutive league win and sixth across all competitions.
Match highlights
Raya saves penalty, Guimaraes hands Gunners lead
The Black Cats had a chance to take the lead when Ezri Konsa was penalized for holding Dan Ballard in the second half.
However, Raya saved Le Fee's spot kick, tipping it onto the post.
Just over two minutes later, Guimaraes controlled a Declan Rice pass and fired a stunning strike off the underside of the crossbar from outside the box, putting Arsenal ahead.
Final moments
Saka seals win with stoppage-time penalty
Despite late pressure from Sunderland, Arsenal secured their lead when Saka converted a stoppage-time penalty.
The decision came after Reinildo Mandava was shown a second yellow card for bringing Saka down as he charged toward goal.
Sunderland deserve the credit for holding Arsenal until close to an hour and also going strong after being a goal down.
However, Arsenal deserve credit for showing their depth and class.
Details
Match stats and points table
Visitors Arsenal dominated ball possession with 57.5%.
In terms of xG, Arsenal created 1.97 compared to Sunderland's 1.64.
From 11 attempts Mikel Arteta's men had 5 shots on target. Sunderland had three shots on target from 11 attempts.
Both sides created 2 big chances each. In terms of touches in the opposition box, Sunderland edged past Arsenal (25-19).
Arsenal are now top of the pile with 12 points from 4 matches (W4).
Sunderland are 14th with 4 points (W1 D1 L2).
Information
Saka gets to 63 Premier League goals
Making his 230th appearance in the Premier League, Saka has raced to 63 goals (A50). In the ongoing season, he has three goals from 4 Premier League matches. Across 318 matches in all competitions, Saka owns 84 goals for the Gunners.
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31st Premier League goal for Guimaraes
Guimaraes, who joined Arsenal from Newcastle United this summer, scored his maiden goal for the Gunners from 2 league appearances. In 155 Premier League games, he has scored 31 goals (A25).
Records
Key records from the contest
As per Opta, there was just 121 seconds between Raya's penalty save from Enzo Le Fee (55:40) and Guimaraes's goal for Arsenal (57:41).
As per Squawka, Raya kept his 51st clean sheet in the Premier League, at least 13 more than any other goalkeepers since he joined Arsenal in 2023/24.
Tonight was the first time he had saved a penalty and kept a clean sheet in a Premier League game for the Gunners.
This was the first time Arsenal had both won and conceded a penalty in a Premier League game since April 2023 vs West Ham.
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4th time Arsenal win four sucessive opening Premier League games
Arsenal have won their opening four games of a Premier League season for the fourth time. Arsenal did so previousluy in 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2022/23.