‘Pain in my tummy’ – Mikel Arteta reacts after Arsenal lose clean sheet record in Sunderland draw  | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta said he felt ‘pain in my tummy’ after Arsenal’s club-record run of eight clean sheets ended at Sunderland on Saturday. 

The Gunners came into the away fixture on the back of five successive Premier League victories. 

But the title contenders were stunned by Dan Ballard who opened the scoring inside the first 10 minutes with a great finish. 

Arteta voiced his frustration on the clean sheet record ending, saying (per The Guardian): “I felt a pain in my tummy. I don’t want to concede any goals. It was a goal and put the game in a difficult position.”

Arsenal pushed hard for an equaliser after the interval and their efforts were rewarded in the 54th minute as Bukayo Saka scored with a precise finish. 

Leandro Trossard appeared to have decided the fate of the contest, as he found the net with a spectacular shot from outside the penalty area after 74 minutes.  

However, Brian Brobbey bagged a stoppage-time leveller to force the visitors to share the spoils. 

Reacting to the disappointing result, Arteta said: “It’s not a nice feeling. 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.”

Arsenal have missed out on the Premier League title in the previous three seasons. 

With Manchester City and Liverpool struggling, Arteta’s side have an excellent opportunity this term to end their league trophy drought. 

They were on a 10-game winning run in all competitions ahead of Saturday’s visit to Sunderland. But their impressive run came to an end at the Stadium of Light. 

Arsenal are still six points clear at the top, but Manchester City can reduce their lead with victory against Liverpool on Sunday.