What were the positives and negatives from Sunderland's draw with Bristol City?

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

Despite falling behind to a Luke McNally goal, the Lads escaped with a draw thanks to Patrick Roberts' late strike. What did our writers make of the game?

Andrew Smithson says…

No home loss this time

I'd been sick of sides coming to the Stadium of Light and nicking scrappy wins over the last few years, so for Sunderland to still be unbeaten on Wearside this season is a big step forward.

Home form is always a major part of a promotion push and I'm pleased we're making more of the advantage.

The Lads keep going until the end

That's two games running where Sunderland have scored late to gain points, and not knowing when you're beaten is another factor in successful runs.

There was even a split second where it seemed as if Dan Ballard had snatched a winner. You have to make all the time available count and by scoring so late to level the result, it feels more positive than a more bog standard draw.

Luke O'Nien's absence hurts us

I think we saw how important O'Nien is to the balance of the team and how attacks are often started.

He was a big miss- not because those that did play aren't very good, it's just that they have other strengths.

Injuries and absences are hitting us hard yet again, as not only are certain players being asked to do things that don't come naturally to them, but they reduce our ability to freshen things up and those remaining are understandably getting a bit leggy.

A poor final half an hour

Sunderland dominated the first half but really laboured after going behind.

We weren't helped much by some baffling officiating but it felt for a while that a 'smash and grab' was on the cards as the momentum dried up.

That said, we then conjured something up from nothing, and it was a great finish from Patrick Roberts, so you can make an argument for the Lads getting out of jail whilst at the same time thinking they deserved more.

John Wilson says…

Oh, Danny Boy

I'm tempted to say my unusual choice of a corned beef pattie from the chip shop was sn inspired choice, but being serious, I'd have to take my lead from my Manchester United friend who came with me to the match.

He was mightily impressed with Dan Ballard. He defended well and tried to move the ball forward and make things happen.

Adil Aouchiche makes his mark

He injected some pace and energy at the end, and if the changes had happened earlier, we may well have nicked it.

Patrick Roberts' goal can't have done him any harm either.

The standard of officiating

What's new? But again, my neutral Manchester Utd friend, who's been to several of our home games, commented, 'To be honest, you don't get many decisions you lot, do you?'

Why wasn't that a penalty, and a clear handball was ignored by the linesman!

I give up.

Sunderland get slack

I wasn't impressed with Bristol City but they got what they came for and we couldn't stop them.

We were lethargic, too casual, lacked energy and had little vision.

A very frustrating game and we only played as we know we can with three minutes to go!

Martin Wanless says…

Well…it's a point!

It looked very unlikely as the game wore on that we'd get anything at all.

We were slow, sluggish and showed little potency in attack, so to come out of that game after turning in such a poor performance with a point is a positive.

Adil Aouchicheimpresses

Aouchiche's lack of game time has been puzzling, particularly after he impressed in pre-season, and all signs point to him being out of the door come January, but he was excellent in his brief cameo and he also looked bright against Sheffield United.

He deserves more of a chance, and soon.

Reactive Régis

The manager has done a great job this season, all up, but his lack of substitutes is frustrating and baffling.

To wait for so long to make a change to a team so clearly knackered and not performing is just mind-boggling.

Put it this way: Bristol City will be thankful that we didn't put those subs on and go 4-4-2 ten minutes earlier, as we'd have likely won the game.

Another rubbish referee

Enough said, really.

A clear-as-day penalty on Aji Alese not given, and loads of time wasting all the way through.

There should've been eight or nine minutes added on at the end, and he then only added ten seconds on for our goal. Clown.

Michael Dunne says…

A point from nothing

It's hard to justify saying we deserved that point.

Our second half performance was putrid and we didn't look like creating anything throughout.

Despite that, we got a point out of nothing due to some quality from two of our subs. We'll take it and run as it was barely deserved.

Adil Aouchiche's cameo

Aouchiche has come back in from the cold in recent weeks to take a place on the bench, and I was impressed with his cameo.

He injected some much-needed tempo into the game and created the goal for Patrick Roberts.

With our attack completely floundering and some players looking very tired, I wouldn't be surprised if he got more game time over the Christmas period.

Sluggish attacking play

I've been saying this for weeks, but our attacking play is absolutely brutal at present.

The high-tempo attacking football we saw at the start of the season has slowly faded into slow, laboured and predictable play. The way we're playing right now, it's difficult to seeing us winning many games.

People tend to see possession stats and ball retention and think we're dominating a game, but the truth is that our XG for the past few games has been very low and we're creating very little.

Wilson Isidor isn't a striker who'll get you a tonne of goals but he's not aided by the fact that our build up play struggles to get him into the right positions. In short, it's a complete mess at the moment.

Max O'Leary haunts us again

I hate seeing him arrive on Wearside, as every time he's here, we tend to struggle against him.

In fairness, we didn't give him much to do but his save from Dan Ballard near the end saved his team a point.

Hopefully he moves elsewhere next year so we don't have to see him at the Stadium of Light.