Swansea City boss Luke Williams couldn’t help but praise Sunderland following yesterday’s clash.
Sunderland completed a terrific comeback in South Wales this weekend as Regis Le Bris’ side came from two goals down to win 3-2 following a stellar second half showing.
The Black Cats found themselves behind after the first stanza with Luke Williams’ Swansea City proving dangerous, notching two goals against a Sunderland side that was uncharacteristically sloppy at the back.
The turnaround in the second half though was remarkable, and several players made it happen, from the exceptional display from Dan Neil, to the brilliance of Jobe Bellingham, who bagged the winner for Le Bris’ side.
Swansea boss Williams was clearly far from pleased with the second half performance of his side, and whilst praising Sunderland, also had some rather sharp words delivered towards his own side.
Swansea boss Luke Williams suggests his side are ‘miles off’ Sunderland
Sunderland looked a completely different side when coming out for the second half, and the determination and spirit they showed to turn around the game away from home was impeccable.
It was something that Williams noticed in the game after he said this in his post-match press conference: “Clearly we’re miles off that level. That’s very obvious after today.
“Not even close to that level. That’s what a top side looks like in the Championship.
“We were just pretending in the 1st half & then the true colours came out in the 2nd.”
After Sunderland’s ‘top’ performance, they now find themselves sitting in 3rd place in the table, still five points off Sheffield United at the summit of the Championship.
Sunderland stats in each half show just how much character Regis Le Bris’ side have
In hindsight, it was a great showing by the side, however there were plenty of questions to ask about the first half.
Per SofaScore, Sunderland were much more sloppy in regards to inviting the pressure from the hosts on the backline, and Swansea were able to pepper the goal with eight shots in the first half, scoring two with an xG of 0.77.
Compared to the second half, Swansea were limited to just an xG of 0.14, getting just two shots off at the comfortable Anthony Patterson in-between the sticks.
Whilst many would indicate that it was the fine goalscoring form of the midfielders that led them towards a victory, it was the sheer improvement by the defensive backline that kicked them back into gear.