Matchday Musings: Roberts to the rescue as Sunderland get out of jail

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

A late goal preserved the Lads' unbeaten home record, but this was a laboured and often disjointed display against Bristol City. Phil West reflects on Tuesday's game

The unbeaten home record remains intact, as does Patrick Roberts' capacity to make important contributions when the chips are down and we find ourselves in trouble, but as we rallied to snatch a late and scarcely-deserved (on the balance of the second half, at least) draw against Bristol City, there were plenty of questions for Régis Le Bris and his players to ponder as Sunderland endured a tough evening and flirted dangerously with defeat at a sparsely-populated Stadium of Light.

When Luke McNally gave the visitors the lead after some frankly shambolic defending, calmly lifting the ball into the roof of Anthony Patterson's goal and seemingly setting the Robins up for the archetypical smash and grab, was it that much of a surprise?

We'd played well in the first half without taking any of the chances we created, but when the second half began, we lost our way alarmingly, and had it not been for Roberts' late strike (set up somewhat poetically by the formerly exiled Adil Aouchiche), this would've been a desperately disappointing way in which to kiss goodbye to a proud unbeaten record on Wearside this season.

Still, 'play to the whistle' and all that jazz, but there's no doubt that Sunderland aren't finding things easy at the moment, and with Wilson Isidor currently resembling the ultimate 'either/or' striker, with his output divided almost exclusively into moments of magic or very little, our attack isn't firing as efficiently as anyone would like.

There's also no doubt that amid some nervy moments at the back on Tuesday night, Luke O'Nien's absence was glaring, thereby ending, as my Roker Report colleague James Nickels noted, 'a debate that wasn't really a debate', and his eventual return to the side will be welcomed.

It's fair to say that things went slightly awry early doors for Sunderland on Tuesday.

The loss of Tommy Watson, who came off second best in a penalty-box clash with McNally, robbed us of a potent threat, and although Eliezer Mayenda showed bags of enthusiasm when he switched flanks to accommodate Roberts, the final incisive pass simply wasn't there.

Although we enjoyed the bulk of the possession and were able to construct some neat passages of build up play, there was a nagging and glaring lack of quality in front of goal, and our ongoing reluctance to shoot and to make opposition goalkeepers work is baffling.

Yes, Aji Alese was denied a clear penalty by another seemingly visually-challenged EFL official, but had we not steamed headlong into brick walls when in promising positions, we should've been ahead regardless of any officiating blunders.

The majority of the second half was a grind, and prior to the Roberts/Aouchiche link up for the equaliser, we simply didn't look like scoring.

For vast stretches of the half, the players often appeared lost, listless, and completely unable to find a way of hauling themselves back onto level terms. That can happen, of course, but in recent weeks, it's happened too frequently and it needs to be nipped in the bud if we're to stay the course.

On a slightly more positive note, this wasn't a exactly a 'bad' point; after all, when you're 0-1 down at home, anything you can salvage should be seen as a positive, but nor was it the kind of display and result to give our promotion credentials a real shot in the arm.

Yes, the teams around us will drop points and there'll be many shock results and unexpected twists ahead, but when you're serious about mounting a challenge, these are the kinds of games from which you really need to take maximum points, and unfortunately, we fell short once again.

Fundamentally, we're a talented, promising team with the potential to challenge at the sharp end of the table. We do have flaws and weaknesses, many of which were exhibited here, but I still believe that we're probably some way ahead of where many fans thought we'd be at this stage of the season.

The January window is looming and decisions will soon have to be made that'll affect the remainder of the campaign. For now, we remain in a good position, but this was an opportunity missed — the latest of many in what's been a very challenging month or so for Sunderland.

Sky Bet Championship

Tuesday 10 December 2024

Stadium of Light

Attendance: 35,421

Sunderland 1 (Roberts 90+3')

Bristol City 1 (McNally 62')

Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Ballard; Mepham, Alese (Cirkin 63'), Neil; Jobe, Rigg (Aouchiche 79'), Mayenda; Watson (Roberts 26'), Isidor (Connolly 79')

Subs Not Used: Moore, Jones, Hjelde; Aleksić, Rusyn

Bristol City: O'Leary, Vyner, Dickie; McNally, Pring, McGuane; Knight, Bird (Earthy 46') Hirakawa (Bell 46'); Mehmeti (Roberts 83'), Armstrong (Wells 60')

Subs Not Used: Atkinson, Bajić, Cornick; Morrison, Mayulu