Guimaraes and Raya crucial – Sunderland v Arsenal player ratings

ByAlex BrothertonBBC Sport journalist at Stadium of Light

Bruno Guimaraes’ thunderbolt – 121 seconds after David Raya saved a penalty – helped a sub-par Arsenal maintain their 100% start to their Premier League title defence with a 2-0 win against Sunderland.

Here’s how I rated the players and you can see how you scored them below.

Robin Roefs: Poor distribution – two goal-kicks went straight out of play. Hardly troubled in the first half but made a fine save to tip over Kai Havertz’s acrobatic effort. 6

Thomas Meunier: Offered a threat on second balls from set pieces but couldn’t covert a couple of half chances. Tracked back to help defensively. 6

Nordi Mukiele: Kept Christos Tzolis quiet and provided a good outlet on break, but didn’t pick out the right passes. Weak shot when right in front of goal at 1-0 down. Forced Raya into saves with two late chances but should have scored the second. 6

Kevin Danso: An unspectacular but assured home debut. 6

Dan Ballard: Defensively solid as ever and coped well with Arsenal‘s press. Should have scored from Xhaka free-kick, but won a penalty. 7

Reinildo Mandava: Largely contained Bukayo Saka, though was baited into fouling him and getting booked. Conceded late penalty and sent off. 4

Nilson Angulo: Lively on the wing and diligent in tracking back, but he should have run at Ben White and Ezri Konsa more. 6

Noah Sadiki: Showed willingness to get forward but also track back, but final ball lacked quality. 6

Granit Xhaka: Produced quality set-piece deliveries and busy as ever in midfield. Made a goal-saving clearance with the last kick of the first half. 7

Enzo Le Fee: Alert and always eager to drive attacks, but telegraphed his soft penalty. 6

Brian Brobbey: Made the lives of Konsa and White miserable all evening with his strength and hold-up play. Created space for others but didn’t get any shots away, though that wasn’t his brief tonight. 7

Subs:

Wilson Isidor (on 70, Angulo): 6

Malick Fofana (on 75, Meunier): 6

Subs not used: Dayann Methalie, Chemsdine Talbi, Chris Rigg, Luke O’Nien, Omar Alderete, Melker Ellborg, Trai Hulme.

David Raya: Little to do until he made a superb penalty save with Arsenal struggling. 8

Ben White: Got into some promising positions with overlapping runs, but looked lightweight when defending. Replaced at the break. 5

Gabriel Magalhaes: Strong in tackles and decent on the ball, but not without his usual theatrics – went down injured then complained when told to leave the field as per the rules. 6

Ezri Konsa: Struggled to deal with Brobbey and looked unconvincing on the ball when pressed. Conceded penalty for hauling down Ballard. 4

Ricardo Calafiori: Solid as usual but didn’t provide his usual offensive threat. 6

Myles Lewis-Skelly: Lucky to escape an early booking, sloppy on the ball and withdrawn at half-time. 4

Declan Rice: Hard-working as ever both with and without the ball. Created a great chance for Saka at 0-0, but otherwise a bit sloppy. Recognised opportunity to tee up Guimaraes. 6

Bukayo Saka: Should have opened the scoring but failed to make proper contact. Kept largely quiet and missed one-on-one chance late on. Won late penalty and scored – just. 6

Martin Odegaard: Unable to continue his blistering start to the season. Good free-kick delivery. 6

Christos Tzolis: Looked lively early on but faded. 5

Kai Havertz: Missed a clear chance at 0-0 but almost scored a brilliant effort minutes later. Tried to square when he had the chance to put the game to bed. 6

Subs:

Jurrien Timber (on 45, White): Did a better job up against Angulo and Brobbey and proactive in winning the ball back. Headed in but caught offside. 6

Bruno Guimaraes (on 45, Lewis-Skelly): Brilliant strike moments after Raya’s penalty save at a time Arsenal needed help. Not a bad way to score your first goal. 7

Martin Zubimendi (on 81, Rice) 6

Eberechi Eze (on 81, Tzolis) 6

Mikel Merino (on 85, Odegaard) 6

Subs not used: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Piero Hincapie, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke.

Number: 1 David RayaAverage rating 8.90

Sunderland (active)
Arsenal

Number: 34 G. XhakaAverage Rating: 5.99Number: 9 B. BrobbeyAverage Rating: 5.77Number: 5 D. BallardAverage Rating: 5.70Number: 22 R. RoefsAverage Rating: 5.61Number: 20 N. MukieleAverage Rating: 5.34Number: 4 K. DansoAverage Rating: 5.16Number: 27 N. SadikiAverage Rating: 4.99Number: 10 N. AnguloAverage Rating: 4.97Number: 39 M. FofanaAverage Rating: 4.88Number: 28 E. Le FéeAverage Rating: 4.87Number: 12 T. MeunierAverage Rating: 4.86Number: 17 Reinildo MandavaAverage Rating: 4.82Number: 18 W. IsidorAverage Rating: 4.71Back to team tabsNumber: 1 David RayaAverage Rating: 8.90Number: 39 Bruno GuimarãesAverage Rating: 8.05Number: 41 D. RiceAverage Rating: 7.37Number: 8 M. ØdegaardAverage Rating: 7.33Number: 6 Gabriel MagalhãesAverage Rating: 7.30Number: 33 R. CalafioriAverage Rating: 7.19Number: 12 J. TimberAverage Rating: 7.17Number: 7 B. SakaAverage Rating: 7.04Number: 15 E. KonsaAverage Rating: 6.95Number: 29 K. HavertzAverage Rating: 6.77Number: 17 C. TzolisAverage Rating: 6.73Number: 36 Martín ZubimendiAverage Rating: 6.44Number: 4 B. WhiteAverage Rating: 6.38Number: 23 Mikel MerinoAverage Rating: 6.26Number: 49 M. Lewis-SkellyAverage Rating: 6.26Number: 10 E. EzeAverage Rating: 6.07Back to team tabs

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.