Arsenal may not have been at their best, but they managed to continue their perfect start to the season with a win at the Stadium of Light.
The reigning Premier League champions came very close to going 1-0 down, but David Raya was equal to Enzo Le Fee’s spot kick.
Sunderland’s penalty was awarded after Ezri Konsa needless wrestled Dan Ballard to the ground from a throw in.
It’s the type of incident Arsenal have been getting away with for the past couple of seasons, and Arteta was furious with the decision, picking up a yellow card for his protests.
The Arsenal boss took that rage into his post-match press duties.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day after the game, he said: "I'm extremely pleased to win again. We had a really tough week, Chelsea, Napoli, winning there and now against a really tough opponent in a difficult place.
“ We had really good periods but didn't score and after that they can suffocate you especially when they decided to be really physical and very direct and we had to overcome a situation that in my opinion was absolutely unacceptable at this level.
“I'm very worried and very sad because this can never be a penalty ever.
"Are you surprised? Are you surprised? No. OK.
"It's a judo roll from the opponent. Ezri (Konsa) does nothing. Just watch it. We have a lot of cameras and VAR we have to take responsibility to protect the game.
“Today the game was unprotected and it could have cost us the game and the momentum which is a really, really serious thing.
"I loved the save from David (Raya) the way the team reacted, the way we go again and we go against everything, but this should never happen, it's not fair, and I am sad, very sad, in that sense.
"I'm making it very clear publicly because it's for the game, it's not only for Arsenal, this cannot happen at this level.
On David Raya's penalty save: "We should not talk about the save of the keeper, we should talk about what happened before that."
On Bruno Guimaraes' performance: "Beautiful, he came on, the goal, the assist, remarkable. That why we talk about the finishers and making that impact and being able to support and help the team. He was outstanding."