Sunderland lost 4-2 away at Southampton in the Championship on Saturday.
Sunderland headed down to the south coast to face Southampton in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Black Cats were looking to avoid a sixth-straight defeat in the Championship, but would find themselves two goals down before half-time at St Mary’s.
Stuart Armstrong capitalised on some poor Sunderland defending to score the first and then Adam Armstrong scored from the spot, after Chris Rigg took down Ryan Manning inside the penalty area.
Sunderland mounted a comeback in the second half; Romaine Mundle bagged his first for the club before Jobe Bellingham curled a ranged effort into the top corner.
Then at 2-2, Southampton upped the pace, scoring twice through Joe Rothwell to take the 4-2 win.
Chris Rigg ‘incredibly naive’ in penalty incident
Rigg made his full league debut for Sunderland in the 1-0 defeat vs Leicester City midweek.
And Rigg shone vs Leicester, offering plenty of positivity on the right of midfield, prompting Mike Dodds to hand Rigg another start against Southampton.
The 16-year-old started in the no.10 position today and got up and down effectively.
He found himself defending when he slid into Ryan Manning inside the penalty area, missing the ball but taking the man, and giving away a penalty.
Commenting on the incident, journalist Michael Graham posted on X:
Patience needed with Rigg at Sunderland
Tony Mowbray, Michael Beale, and Dodds have all said that fans need to remain patient with Rigg, and remember that he’s still such a young player with much to learn.
And today’s penalty incident was probably a sign of his inexperience; he lunged into the tackle when he could’ve stayed on his feet and defended the attack.
Then once Southampton scored that penalty and doubled their lead, it all but secured the home win, condemning Sunderland to a sixth-straight defeat; the first time the Black Cats have lost six in a row since the 2005/06 season.
But Rigg will learn from the mistake and he’ll quickly put it behind him, as he is a player with so much quality yet so much potential still left to fulfill.
It was difficult for him and his teammates today, though.
Sunderland could barely get out of their own half and when they did have possession in attack, it wasn’t for very long, with Rigg almost marked out of the game.
The Black Cats return to the Stadium of Light to host QPR next weekend; Sunderland remain nine points above the drop zone after defeat at Southampton, with 11 points now the gap to the top six.