Sunderland lost 2-1 away at Ipswich Town in the Championship this afternoon.
These two teams were both in League One just a couple of seasons ago. Now though, they’re both at the top-end of the Championship, challenging for promotion to the Premier League.
Sunderland travelled down to Portman Road today, to face title-challenging Ipswich Town.
The Tractor Boys sat in 3rd ahead of kick off after Southampton thumped Sheffield Wednesday 4-0, whilst Sunderland started in 7th after Coventry City beat Leicester City 3-1 in the early kick off.
And in this repeat of the opening day clash at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland took the lead through an emphatic goal from Jack Clarke in the 26th minute, though Kayden Jackson levelled things soon after.
Then Conor Chaplin netted his ninth Championship goal of the season on 75 minutes to hand Ipswich an impressive 2-1 comeback win.
Abdoullah Ba puts in one of his better Sunderland performances
Abdoullah Ba was on hand to provide the assist for Clarke’s thunderous goal today.
The Frenchman started on the right and gave Ipswich Town problems whenever he got on the ball.
Ba has now featured 24 times in the Championship this season. He’s been hit and miss among the fans throughout though, and it’s only his second start under Michael Beale.
According to Sofascore today, Ba won 5 duels (joint-most of any Sunderland player), with 2 key passes to his name, 34 touches and 17 accurate passes.
Ba also attempted more dribbles than any Sunderland player today (4, with 1 successful).
Journalist Michael Graham hailed Ba as ‘brilliant’ after he set up Clarke in the first half.
Michael Beale substitution raises eyebrows
Unless Ba was injured or carrying some kind of knock, Beale’s decision to hook him shortly after the hour mark today seemed like a strange one.
He was certainly playing one of his better games and he was one of the Black Cats’ more exciting players in what was an overall quite quiet game.
And what his role under the new boss is remains to be seen.
He often played under Tony Mowbray but mostly as a substitute. Mowbray though would give Ba 20 or 30 minutes, whereas Beale gave Ba much less in the games where he didn’t start; and in the games he did start, he didn’t finish.
But Ba’s performance today will surely keep him in the XI for the next game against Hull City next week.
He showcased what he can do best with his assist; cutting inside, beating players with the ball, and picking out a key pass.
Ba is undoubtedly a player with potential and if he can string a run of starts together, and manage to stay on the pitch for the bulk of those, then we might start to see the best of him.