Published: 20:42, 8 November 2025 | Updated: 20:44, 8 November 2025

They can't say they weren't told. In the shadows of the Stadium of Light, there is a mural with three words, in white paint on a black wall, that serves more as a warning than a slogan: 'Til The End.'

Sunderland may once have been pushovers but now they are a red-and-white fighting machine, a team that never knows when it is beaten. Their ability to climb off the canvas is compelling and, on a thunderous evening in the North East, they landed a blow to leave Arsenal's eyes watering.

This wasn't a fatal scoreline for Mikel Arteta but the disconsolate way he trudged off after the final whistle, looking like a man who realised his pockets had been picked when putting on his coat, told you how he felt about it all.

For much of this frenzy, it seemed as if this was going to be another week and another example of why they are going to become champions, fighting back from a goal down to lead 2-1, but then Brian Brobbey...