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.