Some individuals stood out despite the 1-0 loss for Sunderland against Sheffield United.
Sunderland fell to their first defeat in 10 games after Chris Wilder’s side saw off the Black Cats in South Yorkshire.
The game started slowly as there was little to separate the Black Cats and Sheffield United in the opening 25 minutes, however the first opportunity for a breakthrough fell on the 29th minute after a darting run by Tommy Watson following a slick pass by Wilson Isidor led to Regis Le Bris’ side winning a penalty, only for Patrick Roberts’ resulting effort to be saved.
After a glorious opportunity to take the lead, the task at Bramall Lane became that much more difficult for Le Bris’ side after a Chris Mepham red card brought Sunderland down to 10. The teams were then levelled up following a red card to Blades centre-back Harry Souttar.
It was end-to-end for the rest of the 90 minutes, and no side was able to break the deadlock until Tom Davies in the 82nd minute after a low-driven right footed effort that sailed past Anthony Patterson.
Here is how we rated the Sunderland ranks in their win/defeat against Sheffield United…
Anthony Patterson
Kept a clean sheet in the first half, although had very little to do defending the goal in front of the Sunderland fans. Could have done more to keep out Davies’ effort that gave the Blades the lead. 6/10
Trai Hume
Worked much more effectively down the right-flank, caused issues and linked up well with Roberts. Defensively much more assured at right-back. 8/10
Dan Ballard
Helped Sunderland towards not conceding a single shot on target in the opening 60 minutes of action. Sat slightly deeper in the second half to allow Neil to push slightly further forward in transition. 6/10
Chris Mepham
Looked very dependable at the back, did well to fend off the threat of Tyrese Campbell initially. Was a very cheap red card to give away, and left his side up against the cosh. 3/10
Luke O’Nien
His poorly-timed pass gave the ball away in the build up to Mepham’s dismissal. Was handed a textbook yellow card in the second half. 4/10
Dan Neil
Was composed on the ball in the first-half and didn’t put a foot wrong. Came out as a centre-back in the second half following the red card to Mepham, and didn’t look out of position. 7/10
Jobe Bellingham
Often disappeared throughout the game and did very little alongside Chris Rigg. 6/10
Chris Rigg
Was rather quiet throughout the game, and whilst did nothing wrong in-the centre-of-the-park, it was far from his best performance for the Black Cats. 6/10
Patrick Roberts
Missed the decisive moment to give his side the lead from the spot in the first half. 6/10
Tommy Watson
Looked somewhat dangerous on set-pieces, notably creating a half chance on 13 minutes. Made a brilliant and darting run that drew in the foul for the penalty in the 29th minute. Top performance and clearly has a brilliant future ahead of him. 8/10
Wilson Isidor
Very quiet in the opening stanza. Played the pivotal pass with some skill to Watson in the build-up to the penalty. Had a half chance in the 63rd minute that was snatched at. 6/10
Substitutions: Alese (5), Connolly (6), Mayenda (6), Aouchiche (6)