Sunderland will be disappointed to have dropped points against bottom of the league Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon, and Regis Le Bris is not happy with his team’s performance overall.
Coming up against lowly Plymouth, many had expected Sunderland to bank a big result and keep up their impressive title charge. Indeed, one prediction labelled this a 100% win for the Black Cats, but they did not deliver.
Regis Le Bris’ men fell behind in the first half and, despite goals from Wilson Isidor and Trai Hume turning the game around, the Mackems were unable to hold on and conceded a late equaliser.
Simply put, dropping points against a team battling relegation is not the stuff of champions, and Sunderland may now have kissed their title hopes goodbye.
Le Bris says Sunderland were poor at both ends vs Plymouth Argyle
Speaking to the BBC after the final whistle, the Sunderland manager was very forthcoming about where his team went wrong, and admitted Plymouth were the better team on the day.
“At the end I think we were a bit lucky to win a single point,” Le Bris said. “I think we started well because the first half was OK, but we were faced with a very compact block and we found some solutions sometimes, but we didn’t create many chances.”
Things went wrong in the second half, claims Le Bris, as he added: “During the second half I think we made many mistakes and we opened our shape and they found solutions to create chances and they scored.
“It was deserved from them and we came back in the game – but at the end it was more direct for them and we didn’t manage the end of the game properly.”
- READ MORE: ‘I don’t care’ – Wilson Isidor proves he’s a class act after Sunderland draw vs Plymouth Argyle
Sunderland may live to regret these dropped points
While that result maintains Sunderland’s unbeaten home record this season, it does very little to improve their chances of gaining automatic promotion.
It’s even more frustrating considering Sheffield United lost to Hull City on Friday night, and a win for Sunderland would have taken them to within one point of the Blades.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 28 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 19 | 34 | 59 |
| 2 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 29 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 40 | 21 | 19 | 58 |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 28 | 15 | 11 | 2 | 36 | 9 | 27 | 56 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 29 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 42 | 24 | 18 | 55 |
| 5 |  West BromWest Brom | 29 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 38 | 25 | 13 | 44 |
| 6 |  MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough | 29 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 47 | 36 | 11 | 44 |
Now, the Black Cats will be looking at the result between Burnley and Leeds United on Monday night. If Burnley win, they will open up a decent gap between the top three and the Black Cats, but if Leeds win, they will go clear at the top and leave the chasing three teams to fight it out for second.
Either way, the poor performances of the Sunderland players against Plymouth could prove very costly come the end of the season. Let’s hope this is not a game they look back on with great regret in four months’ time.