Sunderland suffered a 2-0 defeat away at Preston North End in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
Sunderland under Regis Le Bris got off to a perfect start to the 2024/25 Championship season last weekend.
In his first game as manager, Le Bris’ Sunderland beat Cardiff City 2-0, then taking a lot of optimism into the game at Preston.
The Lilywhites sacked Ryan Lowe ahead of this game, giving Le Bris a potential headache against a Preston side managed by caretaker boss Mike Marsh.
And despite Sunderland pressure in the first half, it was Preston who went into half time with a one-goal lead.
Ryan Ledson’s deflected shot fumbled past a helpless Simon Moore in goal for Sunderland; Moore made several stops throughout the game to keep Preston at bay.
But the home side eventually doubled their lead through Mads Frokjaer who fired home from the edge of the box, capping a disappointing result for Sunderland and Le Bris.
Set pieces an emerging problem for Sunderland under Regis Le Bris
Throughout the game at Deepdale, Sunderland struggled to defend set pieces.
Preston had several shot on goal either from corners or free-kick which Sunderland failed to defend.
Sunderland’s starting XI vs Preston was entirely changed from the one that beat Cardiff; not a single player that started vs Cardiff started vs Preston.
The defence looked shaky at times vs Preston, with Joe Anderson at left-back, Zak Johnson on the right, and Leo Hjelde and Nectarios Triantis in the middle.
Hjelde was injured vs Cardiff but captained the side vs Preston. Though he couldn’t organise a defence that was troubled too easily vs Preston, especially from dead ball situations.
Journalist Phil Smith rued the Black Cats’ inability to defend set plays on the night, posting on X:
Sunderland sorely missed one thing vs Preston North End
Sunderland, to say they played what may be called their B team against Preston, still caused problems.
Romaine Mundle and Chris Rigg both had strong games in midfield and it was another game for Le Bris to mull over, and get to know his new side a bit better.
That said, Sunderland were poor defensively, and largely kept in the game by Moore in goal.
Whenever Preston went forward, especially so through the middle, Sunderland looked panicked and unorganised.
The game was crying out for the leadership and organisation skills of someone like Dan Ballard; his aerial ability would’ve been beneficial when defending set pieces too.
Luke O’Nien’s presence in the middle was also missed against Preston, though Le Bris will have learned a whole lot from the game, and his star players are now rested for the upcoming Championship clash vs Sheffield Wednesday at the Stadium of Light this weekend.