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Keane delighted with "outstanding" Sunderland performance

04/10/2008

Sunderland manager Roy Keane insisted he was a happy man despite seeing his side concede an injury time equaliser against Arsenal.

Substitute Grant Leadbitter thumped a stunning goal with only four minutes left of normal time, but the Gunners hit back late on as Cesc Fabregas headed in the equaliser three minutes into stoppage time.

The Black Cats fans were left deflated at the full-time whistle, but their manager applauded his team for an "outstanding" performance.

"I am pleased with the performance. I suppose if you had asked me this morning whether I would have taken a point against Arsenal, I probably would have," said Keane.

"I thought we were outstanding. It was a case of being disciplined. We broke quite well. I thought a draw was probably a fair result.

"I was tempted to play 4-4-2, but you have to be careful. And when we had the ball we did well. We had the balance just about right. Obviously they scored so late, but credit to Arsenal for taking their late opportunity."

After the disastrous defeat against Hull last week, it was another two points lost for title hopefuls Arsenal. Arsene Wenger berated the fact that in his opinion Sunderland were too defensive today.

"It is frustrating because Sunderland never came out. They were happy with 0-0 from the start and they just didn't try to play," said Wenger.