Sunderland’s 1-1 draw against Preston North End on Tuesday night might not read too interestingly in the history books. But the game certainly had its share of event.
Sunderland rescued a point against Preston thanks to a curling Romaine Mundle strike late on, after Emil Riis had given the Lilywhites the lead in the second half in what was an overall frustrating night for the Black Cats.
There’s yet more questions for Regis Le Bris’ side who remain in 4th and remain six points behind Burnley in 3rd, who drew 1-1 against Tony Mowbray’s West Brom on Tuesday night.
In the previous outing, Sunderland had beaten Cardiff City 2-1 to secure back-to-back wins after previously suffering back-to-back defeats in the league for the first time this season.
But the Black Cats couldn’t follow that up against Preston. The likes of Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham were poor in midfield whilst Wilson Isidor is facing criticism for missing a clearcut header in the first half.
Perhaps the main taking point of the night though was Preston’s simply criminal time wasting in the second half.
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Preston shot themselves in the foot with time wasting tactics at Sunderland
With 10 minutes to go, the Preston players started dropping like flies. One went down, then another, and as one was being brought off, another went down, conveniently coming back onto the pitch for treatment after previously being on the sidelines.
Tension grew as around the dugout as Sunderland waited eagerly to get the game back underway. And almost instantly after they did, Mundle curled one into the top corner and rescued a vital point, much to the disgust of Preston who got their just deserts for their time wasting, which lead to nine minutes of added time.
And rather poetically, Lancashire Post’s Preston reporter George Hodgson posted on X, detailing how Preston’s antics riled up the Stadium of Light crowd and spurred Sunderland on to equaliser. He wrote below…
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The next five Championship fixtures for Sunderland
Next up, Sunderland head to Frank Lampard’s Coventry City in what is the final game before the March international break, which is starting to look like it’ll come at a very good time for the Black Cats.
After the break, Sunderland welcome Alex Neil’s Millwall and then head to Mowbray’s West Brom, then to Norwich City before returning to Wearside with a home game against Swansea City.
If this season has taught us anything, it’s that Sunderland struggle against the lower teams, but put up good fights against the stronger team and often get results.
No doubt, a result against Coventry this weekend would put a lot of confidence back into the fanbase after a very mixed 2025 so far.