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

Today at 02:14 AM

The Lads secured a late, late point on Friday night, thanks to a surreal goalkeeping error from Illan Meslier. What did our writers make of the game?

Anthony Gair says...

Patrick Roberts impresses

Man of the match, for me.

He went off the boil for fifteen minutes in the first half which allowed a few Leeds attacks, but came out for the second half ready for battle.

A great game for Patrick, but he needs a goal or two!

Some good attacking football

Going forward, most teams in the Championship will fear us.

Even with a visibly shattered Wilson Isidor, we were getting into positions that could've led to multiple goals against lesser sides.

If we carry on this way, we'll finish in the top six quite easily. I love watching this side.

Fatigue sets in

There were some players in the starting eleven who were quite obviously struggling with fatigue.

For all that I think Wilson Isidor is the next coming of Christ, he looked absolutely shattered from kick off. Trai Hume looks like he could have a month's kip, and Dan Neil was constantly on his haunches.

It was a mistake not to sub them off earlier, regardless of the result.

Fans leaving early

I'm leaving myself open to some abuse but it looked ridiculous on the telly; it looks ridiculous to the young lads trying to play football on the field, and it looks absolutely ridiculous to the opposition fans.

What are you doing? Beating the traffic?

I bet you didn't. I bet you found yourself stuck in it, and it just makes us look like we don't care.

Chris Camm says...

A late and surreal winner

A goal in added time is always special, for the bedlam in the crowd and the explosion of joy, and the fact it was hilarious is a bonus too.

However, what's best for me is that it was a mistake in added time that only existed because of the time wasted by the man who made the error.

The Lads had a frustrating night and very nearly succumbed to that frustration, but they persevered and were rewarded in the most satisfying and bizarre way.

A draw was probably a fair result and it's digging in like that and grinding out results that achieves promotion.

Jobe continues to flourish

He gets through so much work in midfield- winning possession, linking play and being strong, and off the ball, he makes runs into the channels that open things up for us.

He displayed all of this and was imperious against a very good Leeds midfield.

The development during the summer has been remarkable and I think he was our best player last night.

Some slackness in possession

For all the praise they deserve for their application and effort, it's fair to say that the quality on the ball wasn't there enough last night.

We made it so hard for ourselves by giving the ball away cheaply and lacking some extra quality in the final third. Make no mistake: if not for that error, we would've lost, and we gave them the ball back for free so many times.

Patrick Roberts kept making runs inside and failing to offload the ball, and Dan Neil was rushed in possession and couldn't protect it all too often.

It fed into the frustration in the stands because we know these boys are better than that.

Please stop leaving early

I know it's been mentioned above so I won't dwell on it, but stop leaving so early, because the lads deserve our support until the bitter end.

The effort and application they're putting in right now is worthy of any fan's wholehearted backing and scenes like those after the equaliser are why we all watch football in the first place.

Ian Bendelow says...

Sunderland more than hold their own

It's usually a matter of some frustration when you give up a one-goal lead, especially at home, but two things were clear to me throughout the game: that this was a Leeds side who'll probably go on to win the league, and that this was a Sunderland side who more than held their own.

It's not to say it was a sparkling performance, but it's clear the Black Cats deserve their place in the top echelons of this division.

How we grow throughout the season remains to be seen, but things look good so far.

Luke O'Nien excels again

You're going to have to rewrite the dictionary definition of 'indispensable', as what Sunderland's number thirteen gives to this club almost can't be measured.

So often, it's about his off-field contributions, but he barely put a foot wrong against Leeds. Every clearance and header felt like it went to a red and white shirt; he played with purpose, direction and precision, and he and Chris Mepham were in control for large parts of the game.

I said it a number of years ago, but if you don't understand what O'Nien gives to this side, then you don't understand football, and this beautiful specimen continues to vindicate me.

The moment he leaves our club, I'll be utterly bereft.

A lack of energy from certain players

Some of the brighter players did show a bit of a drop in their performance levels last night.

It's understandable because of the amount of football we've played over the past week, but with the exception of our centre backs, most of the other lads drifted in and out of the game, and for large parts of the second half in particular.

I understand that might sound pretty harsh, but the truth is that it's a lesson for Régis Le Bris that he must trust and use his squad as we welcome players back and bed in our new signings.

Without the assistance of Illan Meslier, we would've been making much more of an issue of this.

More ropey officiating

Oh it's easy, isn't it? Stick the boot into the officials.

Well, I will when the Leeds equaliser was clearly offside and their second was never a foul by Romaine Mundle.

It's extremely frustrating and it denied us the chance to properly establish a foothold in the game, so while Leeds moan about Meslier costing them, we have more than valid reasons to be annoyed, and Tim Robinson is also a Premier League referee!

Of course it would be remiss of me to mention that we should've defended the second goal far better, but Leeds shouldn't have had the chance.

Malc Dugdale says...

Our unbeaten home run continues

That was probably the hardest opponent we've faced and thanks to dogged determination, a smattering of luck and an error from their goalkeeper, we got a share of the spoils.

After a couple of losses away from home where our own errors cost us dearly, we finally benefited from an error going the other way.

Karma finally paying us back a little? I'll take it.

Rigg in the right place

Another goal for the youngster and rather than a deft backheel, this time it was more about gambling and being in the right spot for a tap-in.

As his career unfolds, he'll score a good mixture of brilliant goals and hopefully a good number of tap-ins, too.

Chuffed for the kid. Well done son.

Tiredness takes its toll

I think it was a bit of an error not to rotate more.

I get that it was Leeds but we didn't even bring fresh legs on when it looked mad not to. It was an incredibly intense game; we started to look tired at times, and if we sit back and don't press high up the park, we invite pressure.

I'd like to see the coach rotate more across the season as the squad is good and will soon be even better when our new signings are fit, so overplaying certain lads won't be needed very soon.

Creative cracks

Maybe it was down to how well Leeds played but it concerned me that we had a lot of the upper hand when we were 2-1 down, but we couldn't quite carve open their defence.

Jobe scuffed a few he would normally flush, and Wilson Isidor wasn't quite as effective as he has been either, and nor was Romaine Mundle.

We got away with a point but I'd expect some training based around breaking teams down in the near future. We won't play Leeds-level teams every week and we don't need to be too hard on the lads, so maybe I'm being a touch harsh.

Michael Dunne says...

Jobe shines

I thought Jobe had another great game. He's calmness personified on the pitch and has really taken his game to another level this year.

He also went close with two chances but you can see how dangerous he can be when he gets himself into these positions.

It isn't by fluke that he gets there, as his movement is really good, and whatever he's done since last year has clearly made a difference to his game.

More than a point?

There are many questions you could raise with the overall performance.

We were poor at times and certainly didn't bring our best quality to the game, but what I enjoyed was the never-say-die attitude and the mentality to keep going to the very end.

Whilst some fans decided to leave at the 88th minute, the team kept playing and they got their just rewards. Sometimes in big games you just need to keep plugging away and a bit of luck will fall your away.

Leeds gamesmanship

It's annoying when it happens against you but when it's your team, you're all for it.

I felt the away side's constant diving, time wasting and general sh*thousery was really frustrating, and that they got away with so much given the referee's unwillingness to grow a pair and deal with the situation properly.

I was almost expecting him to give a phantom foul on Illan Meslier at the end, such was his ineptitude!

Don't leave early

Each fan has their own reasons and they're entitled to do what they want, but when many fans begin a mass exodus with five or ten minutes to go, I feel it genuinely takes away from the momentum of the players on the pitch.

Last night was one of those occasions where leaving early led to many fans missing a joyous moment, so try and stay to the end if you can!

Tom Albrighton says...

'Fortress Stadium of Light'

It's been a common theme in recent seasons that teams have either turned us over at home or relished an opportunity to stun the Wearside crowd.

Under Régis Le Bris, that hasn't been the case, with last night's point reinforcing the notion that teams will not be coming to Sunderland for an easy ride.

Regardless of how the point came about, Leeds were kept in an even contest right to the death and given they looked like the best side we've played so far, to do so shows our steel at home.

Some good fortune goes our way!

So far this season, we can argue that we've dropped at least two points through daft mistakes, and yesterday we got one back.

Whilst we've always been keen to offer teams a helping hand, it was a nice change to see us get the rub of the green from another team's mistakes.

Moments like this can really become a springboard for a season and because of the rarity of these fortuitous moments, it really does make you wonder whether it might just be our turn this time.

Sitting deep too early in the game

I know it's picky and I know it's how we play, but yet again I found myself struggling to get on board with Sunderland sitting deep immediately after scoring.

For clarity, I enjoy the football under Le Bris, but on occasions like last night, I really do wonder if our tendency to sit off after scoring swung the game too far in Leeds' favour.

There are of course many reasons why I'm not on the touchline but when the Friday night lights were gleaming and Chris Rigg pounded his chest, it felt like the perfect time to take the game to Leeds, as they looked shellshocked.

We did well overall but our best spells came when the team sat higher up the pitch. Of course our style is still in its infancy but I do worry that at times, we do seem to invite teams back into the game rather than threatening to take it away from them.

A tough night for Patrick Roberts

A few players could've come in for a spot of critique but given we have a fairly settled starting eleven, it wasn't a surprise to see some tired legs. That being said, I felt that watching Roberts was more punishment than joy.

I like Roberts, despite the questions surrounding his goals and assists, but he was sloppy and far too predictable. It's not fair to compare him to Romaine Mundle but a glance over to the other wing to see his counterpart offering to go both inside and outside of his man and using variation to his advantage wouldn't go amiss.

What's more frustrating is that this week's return to last season's 'cut inside, beat two men then lose the ball' version of Roberts seemed a million miles away just a few weeks ago.

Of course I'll back him to get back to his best but with Trai Hume also not his usual self, it feels like something on that right side will have to give eventually, and there's a Tommy Watson-shaped shadow in Roberts' rear view mirror.