Sunderland endured their second consecutive defeat as they were narrowly beaten by Huddersfield Town this evening.
The Black Cats were desperate to bounce back from their disappointing loss against Plymouth Argyle last time out and will have been fully confident of returning to winning ways against a team who had only won one of their last eleven games.
Despite dominating possession at the Stadium of Light, Tony Mowbray’s side were unable to improve on their previous troubles in the final third.
Sunderland had 22 shots on target but failed to ever really threaten the Terriers’ net, despite bringing in the likes of Adil Aouchiche and Eliezer Mayenda to the starting line-up for the first time.
It was the all familiar set piece and poor defending that gifted Huddersfield an undeserved three points on the road, leaving Sunderland eleventh in the Championship and four points from the play-off spots.
Fans were expecting a much stronger performance against a very weak Huddersfield side, but the hosts lacked any real excitement from start to finish in what was a boo-worthy display in front of a very underwhelmed crowd.
Here are our player ratings from Sunderland’s 2-1 defeat this evening…
Anthony Patterson – 6
The goalkeeper didn’t have a great deal to do and couldn’t do a lot about their goals. He did make a brilliant block to deny them the opener in the first half.
Jenson Seelt – 5
The Dutchman actually looked ok going forward at times and picked up the assist for Sunderland’s equaliser.
He didn’t look as confident defensively and will be eager to return to the centre of defence in the future.
Dan Ballard – 5
A poor performance from the centre-back who is usually the one who sorts the rest of the backline out. Like the rest of the defence, he was very disappointing for Huddersfield’s second goal.
Luke O’Nien – 6 (MotM)
I actually thought O’Nien looked solid before their second goal, and should have added an assist to his tally when he put through a lovely ball for Jobe.
However, he was also at fault for the winner. Though his goal improves his rating slightly and won him the man of the match.
Trai Hume – 5
A disappointing performance all round for Sunderland’s defence. The full-back was far from his best out of position.
Dan Neil – 5
Struggled to make an impact from the midfield. Dan Neil is usually allowed to roam forward with Pierre Ekwah behind him, but didn’t have many opportunities to make an impact.
Jobe – 4
One of Jobe’s worst performances in a Sunderland shirt. The midfielder gave the ball away multiple times and should have scored one-on-one with the ‘keeper in the second half.
Adil Aouchiche – 4
The Frenchman earned his place in the team after a number of brilliant cameos, but he was invisible for most of the game. He certainly didn’t prove himself worthy of a start against Millwall, though I would still give him a second chance.
Jack Clarke – 6
Our only real threat going forward, though he was far from his best and was often manned by multiple Huddersfield defenders. He needs help and can’t be expected to do everything himself.
Patrick Roberts – 4
The winger looks far from the player that earned himself a new contract recently. Roberts was largely ineffective and it was no surprise that the ball ended up spending most of the time on the left.
Eliezer Mayenda – 5
I thought there was a lot of promise in the Spaniard’s performance, though he rarely saw the ball. It definitely wasn’t his fault though, he just rarely got any service.
SUBS: Ba (5), Dack (4), Pritchard (5), Hemir (4), Burstow (5)