Bristol City 1-0 Sunderland: Biggest issue remains unsolved in familiar away frustration
Bristol City 1-0 Sunderland: Biggest issue remains unsolved in familiar away frustration
Sunderland fell to a 1-0 defeat against Bristol City on Saturday afternoon
In a low-quality match, Tommy Conway’s early penalty proved to be the difference as Sunderland lost on the road against Bristol City.
This is the Sunderland take on the game’s plot and main talking points.
With a slow pace and a lot of possession errors, this game appeared to be the third of the week for both teams very immediately. Sunderland appeared to be the more dangerous team, but they were
able to escape with a significant mistake when Ekwah attempted to handle an
O’Nien ball that was initially intended for Ballard across the pitch. After Ekwah
deflected it in the direction of goal, Sykes went down for what he believed to be a
foul by Ballard, but the referee signaled play to continue. Whether it was a
penalty or not, Sunderland failed to take advantage of the let-off.
Less than fifteen minutes later, Sunderland found themselves in danger close to their own box once more. Despite his belief that he could reach the loose ball before Sykes, Patterson undoubtedly fouled Sykes as he pinched the ball past him this time. Conway’s penalty was superb; it made Patterson uncomfortable.
Sunderland came near once or twice, with Roberts’s superb run culminating in an easy save from Pritchard’s corner, but the Black Cats were already down.
CLARKE EXPERIMENT DOESN’T LAST TOO LONG
Dodds had rested Bellingham for the game, brining in Roberts and Pierre Ekwah with Jenson Seelt dropping to the bench. Most significantly his changes meant that Clarke went through the middle, with Ba instead playing out on the left.
At the half-hour mark, Clarke returned to the left, where the majority of the proceedings took place, indicating that the experiment was short-lived.
Sunderland was having trouble; they lacked enthusiasm and effort
everywhere on the field. They should have been more behind as Mehmeti
struck the post following a forward ball that was not dealt with, and Patterson
pushed Gardner-Hickman into a strong stop.
Although it appeared that a second would come soon, Sunderland held their ground and controlled the final fifteen minutes of the half. When a nice passing move found Roberts in the box, he ought to have done better, but his shot went
high. After that, Pritchard’s wide free kick hit the crossbar and rebounded
over, then Clarke fired a low shot across goal that Ba was unable to touch.
O’Leary’s bold starting position off his line from corners was evidently
Pritchard’s goal, although his team trailed into the break.
SUNDERLAND IMPROVE – BUT STRUGGLE TO FIND BIG CHANGES
Dodds opted not to make changes at the break, but got a response from his side who were much better almost right from the off. They were able to lock Bristol City in towards their own goal and build some pressure, though clear chances remained hard to come by with an obvious lack of penalty-box presence.
Luke O’Nien did force an excellent save from O’Leray when he stooped to head
towards goal, the goalkeeper just about clawing it off his line. Sunderland also
worked a good shooting chance for Ba shortly before he was replaced by Jobe,
but his effort was weak and straight at O’Leary. Set pieces were Sunderland’s
most likely avenue without a striker, O’Leary saving a good header from Jobe.
A FRUSTRATING END AND DODDS’ TELLING CHANGES
Ultimately, it was an all too common tale of Sunderland’s season-long road trip. They got into nice parts of the pitch and saw a lot of the ball, but they rarely had clear-cut opportunities. When Clarke found Roberts in the area, he successfully blocked a defender, but other than that, they had trouble converting dominance into goals.
Remarkably, Dodds chose to substitute Eliezer Mayenda for Dack and Aouchiche in the 87th minute rather than going with one of his young strikers on the bench. Even though Tony Mowbray left last week, this served as a reminder that, as Michael Beale gets ready to take over, the club’s biggest problem this season is still unresolved.
Bristol City XI: O’Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, Pring; Sykes (Bell, 80), Gardner-Hickman, James (Williams, 69), Mehmeti (Weimann, 69); Knight, Conway (Cornick, 76)
Subs: Bajic, Cornick, Wells, Knight-Lebel, Yeboah
Sunderland XI: Patterson; Huggins (Mayenda, 88), Ballard, O’Nien, Hume; Neil, Ekwah (Dack, 80); Ba (Jobe, 62), Roberts, Clarke; Pritchard (Aouchiche, 80)
Subs: Bishop, Burstow, Rusyn, Seelt, Triantis
Bookings: Conway, 1 Dickie, 35 Jobe, 69 Williams, 70 Roberts, 84 Ballard, 90
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