Regis Le Bris reveals why Sunderland made change to stadium for Arsenal draw

Arsenal's winning run was ended by a dramatic 2-2 draw away to Sunderland on Saturday, as the Gunners agonisingly conceded a 96th-minute equaliser from Brian Brobbey

Regis Le Bris has admitted that Sunderland moved the advertising hoardings closer to the pitch to restrict Arsenal's long throw-ins. The Gunners were held to a last-gasp 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, ending their machine-like run of 10 successive wins.

Mikel Arteta's side also conceded a goal for the first time since September, missing the chance to break a club record after equalling it on Tuesday in the Champions League. Another run that came to an end was Arsenal's knack of scoring from set pieces.

The Gunners had scored a goal from dead-ball situations in their previous five Premier League games before heading to the North East. But Sunderland stifled Arsenal's regular route to goal, in part thanks to a sneaky change to the stadium setup.

The Black Cats' choice to position the hoardings nearer to the pitch reduced the amount of turf that players could use during their run-ups on throw-ins.

Asked to confirm if the decision was intentional, a grinning Le Bris admitted: "Yeah, we tried to find the details to win the game. They are really strong on set-pieces, we were good as well.

It was absolutely obvious this threat was really important for this game and in the end it was balanced."

Arsenal extended their lead at the top to six points, but they'll know that it should've been more. Even after Sunderland's equaliser, the Gunners had chances to retake the lead through Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.

"We knew that it was going to be really tough, really disruptive, a lot of stop and start, a lot of long balls," Arteta confessed after the match. "We dealt with that the majority of the time good, but we conceded two goals in a way that we should have defended better.

"After 1-0, I think the team reacted really well. We scored a goal, scored a second goal, really dominated the game and created more chances, and then at the end, they don't need much, just a ball in the air, it's a front-up ball where we can deal with that better."

"We conceded a goal, but we reacted immediately and we have a massive chance with Richy and Mikel to win the game.

"So overall, we're disappointed with the result, but so proud of the players because putting into perspective what they've done in the last 10 games, winning all of them with the amount of clean sheets that they had, with seven players injured."

Arsenal will be looking to bounce back after the international break when the small matter of the North London derby takes place at the Emirates. The Gunners then return to Champions League action by welcoming Bayern Munich in a battle of the top two in the table.