Four things we learnt after a sub-par Sunderland performance resulted in a 1-0 defeat away to Huddersfield.
The Black Cats went into the fixture aiming to push into the top six. Sunderland went into the game with seven points from their last three games including a 3-1 victory versus Plymouth on the weekend.
However, Michael Beale’s side was not able to continue this momentum as they never really got going at John Smith’s Stadium.
Huddersfield were able to take advantage of this as Matty Pearson scored the only goal of the game. This condemned Sunderland to their first defeat in four games and saw them fall to 10th in the Championship table.
Now, looking back at the game, here are four things that we learned from the match.
Another sloppy first-half from Sunderland
Just like the weekend, Sunderland could not get going in the first half. Despite finishing Saturday’s game in memorable fashion, the Black Cats were sloppy and were unable to create anything in the first 45 minutes.
The goal they conceded summed up the performance. A clever freekick was only parried partly away by Anthony Patterson. The ball then deflected to Pearson who it hit off before ending up in the goal.
Just like Plymouth, it was another preventable goal to concede and gave the visitors more unnecessary work to do in the second half.
Set pieces become Sunderland’s nightmare
Sunderland could not handle Huddersfield’s threat from set pieces. The hosts looked dangerous every single time and the Black Cats could not handle them.
Not only did the opener come from a free-kick, but Huddersfield could have had even more. Following the goal, Sunderland did not learn their lesson and continued to give away sloppy set pieces.
Huddersfield were more than happy to accommodate this and almost made it 2-0 as they hit the post directly from a free-kick in the second half.
Just before the hour mark, the Terriers went close again, this time off a corner as Jobe Bellingham had to be in the right place, at the right time to clear the ball off the line.
Sunderland are too reliant on Jack Clarke
One thing that was majorly evident from the fixture is that Sunderland relies too much on Clarke. Going into the game, Clarke had netted 14 times this season, nine more than any other Sunderland player.
Against Huddersfield, the 23-year-old had a rare bad game, with nothing really coming off for the attacker. It is therefore no coincidence that the Black Cats also created little and didn’t have a clear opportunity to score all game.
This is an issue Beale needs to sort out quickly if they are to maintain their playoff push. Sunderland cannot rely solely on one man or their campaign could well collapse.
Sunderland need to bounce back quickly
It was a game to forget for Beale’s side. It was arguably one of their worst performances of the season as they were defeated by the relegation-threatened Huddersfield.
Sunderland has proven multiple times this season that they are more than capable of producing good and memorable performances. Beale now needs to ensure this defeat is a one-off blip for his side.
The Black Cats are on the road again on Saturday when they take on Birmingham. The Blues are in a similar situation to Huddersfield and Sunderland must take advantage of that to get their playoff push back on track.