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The Stadium of Light is becoming one of the toughest places to play in the Premier League, as Arsenal drew 2-2 against Sunderland on Saturday. After 10 consecutive wins to start the season, it's the first dropped points for Mikel Arteta's team, while Sunderland are trying to ride stoppage time magic to a European place. When Brian Brobbey scored with an acrobatic kick in the 94th minute of play, the roof almost came off the stadium, although late goals have been a normal occurrence for the cardiac Black Cats.

This is the third time this season that Sunderland have scored a result-changing goal in stoppage time and their league-leading fifth goal after the 90th minute, which leads the Premier League. They're also one of three teams to not concede a goal after the 90th minute of play, alongside Everton and Aston Villa. Sunderland will never count themselves out of a game, and with Arsenal youth product  Daniel Ballard in the middle of everything, why should they?

The Northern Irish international filled the stat sheet with a goal, an assist, and a game-saving block off the line to end the game in what is the stuff dreams are made of for a center back. The Black Cats have been far from an average promoted side as they're pushing for a European place and trying to become the first newly promoted side to finish in the top half since Leeds United in the 2020-21 season.

Without Viktor Gyokeres, Arsenal struggled to break down Sunderland's stout defense, but they thought that with moments of brilliance from Bukayo Saka and Trossard, they had found just enough space to earn all three points. Taking most of their shots from low percentage areas, despite Arsenal creating 2.07 xG during the match, most of it came from only two shots, with Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori creating chances in stoppage time, chasing the game.

For much of the match, despite Arsenal dictating the tempo, Sunderland were dictating where the shots came from. They paid for it a few times, like Trossard scoring in the 74th minute with a rocket from outside the box that Robin Roefs had no chance of saving, but the majority were shots without consequence. During the grind of the season, these things will happen, but they show how hard it is to go wire to wire to win the Premier League. With Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Gyokeres all sidelined, Arsenal can't conjure a striker out of thin air, but on the bright side, Gyokeres should return from the international break to lead the line.

With Liverpool and Manchester City facing each other on Sunday, this is a chance for one to draw closer to the Gunners, who now have a seven-point lead atop the league. A City win would close that to four points, while a Liverpool one would see it only drop to five. Both of those are manageable cushions, but City winning would truly signal that the game is back on in the Premier League title race.

Last season, the Gunners got plenty out of Merino as an emergency center forward, but this was a stark reminder of how unsustainable that is. Heading into the international break will be a chance to reset for Arsenal because when it comes down to it, this could've been worse than a draw, and they did show resolve to go ahead, but Gyokeres was signed to bring a title, and they'll need him on the pitch to realize those ambitions. Meanwhile, Sunderland can begin dreaming of ambitions greater than just avoiding relegation in their emphatic return to the Premier League.