Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has confirmed that Sunderland reconfigured the Stadium of Light ahead of Saturday's clash with Arsenal in a bid to gain a marginal advantage on the Gunners.
Rumours circulated pre-match that the Black Cats had moved the advertising hoardings closer to the pitch for the match to try and restrict what Arsenal could do from long throw-ins. Now, Le Bris has confirmed that those rumours were true.
Le Bris explains the throw-in decision
Speaking after the match about how Sunderland managed to prevent Arsenal from being as effective as usual from set pieces, Le Bris confirmed that the advertising hoardings had been brought forward. He explained:
“Yeah, we tried to find the details to win the game, and they are really strong on set pieces. We were good as well. It was something obvious that this threat was really important for this game, and in the end, it was balanced.”
The decision to move the advertising hoardings was a risky one, given that Sunderland have also been deadly from long throws this season. Nordi Mukiele has one of the longest throws in the Premier League, but his launches into the box were noticeably shorter on the night, too.
In the end, the match finished 2-2, but none of the four goals came from set pieces. Beyond the decision to move the advertising boards, Sunderland did a good job of preventing corners, with the Gunners only taking two throughout the 90 minutes.
FGG says: A tactic that will catch on?
Given that Sunderland became the first club outside of Man City and Liverpool to take points from Arsenal this season, the decision to reconfigure the stadium could be something that other teams do against the Gunners going forward. If they do, then Mikel Arteta will have to figure out an alternative route to goal.