Matchday Musings: Sunderland stumble against the rock bottom Pilgrims

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Plymouth almost doubled their away goals tally for 2024/2025 as they came close to grabbing a shock win on Wearside. Phil West reflects on a frustrating afternoon for the Lads

If you've taken time out of your Sunday morning to read this edition of 'Musings' hoping for anything in the way of forced positivity or a 'smiling through gritted teeth'-type analysis of a game from which Sunderland — amazingly — were fortunate to escape with a draw against a side cut adrift at the bottom of the Championship, you may wish to close your browser's window and ignore what's been written.

On the contrary, this wasn't how it was supposed to go for the lads in red and white.

The story of Saturday's game was a bitty, fragmented 2-2 draw between a side with aspirations of automatic promotion and a team in Argyle who'd scored a mere three goals on the road all season, yet were good value for a draw and backed by possibly the most dedicated away following to visit Wearside all season.

For Sunderland, who turned in a disjointed display in front of a Stadium of Light crowd that seemed to be wracked with nervous tension from the first whistle, it was a substandard performance and result; one which really needs to serve as a shot across the bows as we seek to keep our top two bid on the rails.

Sheffield United's defeat at the hands of Hull City on Friday night opened the door for Régis Le Bris and his men, and yet despite the opportunity that presented itself, goals from Wilson Isidor and Trai Hume were only good enough for a draw, with Ryan Hardie's scruffy strike (officially marked down as an Anthony Patterson own goal) and a late effort from Nathenael Ogbeta giving the visitors a share of the spoils.

Statistically, the reality is harsh for Sunderland in the wake of another game during which we had the upper hand on the scoreboard before allowing the opposition to roar back to snatch a draw.

A colossal twelve points have been shelled in the dying embers of games this season and to a growing list of missed opportunities, you can add a game that had we shown more conviction and not allowed what occasionally felt like complacency to hinder us, we may well have won and set up the trip to Middlesbrough nicely.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why things went so awry for the Lads on Saturday, but Le Bris, who rightly has an enormous amount of credit in the bank, didn't ace his team selection nor his tactical approach.

The reversion to 4-3-3, with Salis Abdul Samed a surprise inclusion and Eliezer Mayenda benched, felt like a curveball and with the undoubtedly talented Enzo Le Fée dispatched to the wing (a position in which his skillset feels somewhat wasted, to my mind), it all felt a little bit peculiar.

Samed's role as the midfield anchor felt well suited to a tricky away game in which control in the middle is a non-negotiable, but at home against such an out-of-form side? Perhaps not, and he didn't make the impact that everyone would've hoped for.

Our display in the first half wasn't one to write home about, even if one or two decent chances came and went, and it wasn't until the second half was well underway and Hardie somehow squeezed the ball home despite Luke O'Nien's desperate attempted clearance that we finally began to stir.

Isidor's goal — a valuable boost for the Frenchman after his recent exploits — got us back on level terms before a well-worked free kick led to Hume tucking the ball past Conor Hazard for 2-1, the goal coming shortly after Callum Wright's effort hit the post.

At that stage, conviction, composure and clarity of thought were needed in order to see the game out, but we never looked truly comfortable and when the ball fell to Ogbeta late on after we failed to clear the danger, he lashed it past Patterson for 2-2.

Defensively, Sunderland were alarmingly shaky at times on Saturday and although that can happen to any team, it's vital that such displays don't become habitual at such a crucial stage of the season. The standards have been raised and the players need to respond accordingly.

2-2 was how it finished and despite suffering no real damage to our league standing, this one certainly represented a narrowing of our margin for error and all eyes will doubtless be on the Monday night clash between Leeds United and Burnley as the mathematics of the automatic promotion race are pored over once again.

We remain firmly in the race but we simply can't allow our standards to slip, and there'll doubtless be an added incentive to put things right when we travel down the A19 for a Monday night showdown with Michael Carrick's Teessiders.

Let's hope that the always-nervy trip to the Riverside proves fruitful for us as we aim to do the league double over the 'Boro.

25 January 2025

Sky Bet Championship

Stadium of Light

Attendance: 41,907

Sunderland 2 (Isidor 60', Hume 72')

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Patterson (og) 58', Ogbeta 90')

Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, O'Nien; Mepham, Cirkin (Ballard 76'), Samed (Mayenda 61'); Neil, Jobe, Le Fée; Roberts (Rigg 76'), Isidor (Hjelde 87')

Subs Not Used: Moore, Aleksić, Jones; Aouchiche, Poveda

Plymouth Argyle: Hazard, Sorinola, Pleguezuelo (Ogbeta 78'); Pálsson, Puchacz, Mumba; Bundu (Tijani 78'), Randell, Houghton (Gyabi 78'); Wright (Al Hajj 78'); Hardie (Baidoo 65')

Subs Not Used: Grimshaw, Issaka, Roberts; Cissoko