Pundits back Arteta on the penalty
Ashley Williams and Thomas Frank both said Sunderland should never have had the penalty (12). Williams called the decision "completely wrong" and said Arsenal should have had a free kick instead, after Ezri Konsa was judged to have fouled Dan Ballard (12). That backs up Arteta's post-match fury, and it is the thing Gunners fans are still arguing about.
Worth knowing the detail: Konsa was penalised for a tug at a corner (13). ESPN's VAR review walks through how a call like that gets made (6).
Sunderland 0–2 Arsenal: Raya the hero
David Raya saved the penalty. Bruno Guimarães scored a screamer from outside the box, Bukayo Saka finished one of his own from the spot, and your team left the Stadium of Light with a 2–0 win on September 12 (4)(11).
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That is four league wins from four, plus the 1–0 at Napoli in the Champions League on September 9. Arsenal are top of the Premier League on 12 points, goal difference +7 (1)(8). Sunderland, meanwhile, were left to rue their luck (3).
Arteta: "unacceptable at this level"
Arteta did not let the win soften it. "It is unacceptable at this level. Unacceptable," he said of the penalty, adding it was "worrying" for the future of the game (1)(5).
He also had a line about the officials changing the game (1). BBC summed up his mood with a blunt quote of its own: "Today the game was unprotected" (10).
Arsenal tracking Nico Paz, but Real Madrid hold the cards
Arsenal are keeping a close watch on Como's Nico Paz, the 22-year-old Argentine attacker who has drawn Messi comparisons (7)(9). The catch is Real Madrid. They hold an €80m buy-back clause on him (9).
Unconfirmed, and nothing imminent, but it is a name to file away as Arteta looks at long-term attacking options (7).
Arsenal in the race for a 15-year-old
Arsenal and Chelsea are reported to be fronting the chase for Gabriel Rajkovic, the 15-year-old Norwegian winger at Vålerenga (14). One for the future pipeline, not the first team.
Brighton away next
You go to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, September 19, 16:00 CEST (NEXT MATCH). Four league wins from four so far.
Fan reactions
The mood on r/Gunners is a mix of relief and grievance. One of the top threads is a 340-second cut of the madness at the Stadium of Light: the penalty award, the Raya save, the Guimarães strike (1). The other big talking point is the Match of the Day verdict, with Williams and Frank agreeing with Arteta that the penalty should never have been given (2). Guimarães is enjoying himself too: "Now I'm feeling good. I'm hoping for many more" (5). Full sequence
