There were plenty of positives for Sunderland on Friday night as Regis Le Bris’ men claimed an impressive 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday.
Friday night marked a return to winning ways for Sunderland who’d previously suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time under Regis Le Bris.
Sunderland beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 courtesy of an Eliezer Mayenda brace: the Spaniard has scored six goals in the Championship this season and four of them have come against the Owls.
Impressively, the Black Cats won with something of a makeshift team. Le Bris made five changes to the starting XI with the likes of Mayenda, Alan Brown, Leo Hjelde, Chris Mepham, and Romaine Mundle all starting.
Many impressed on the night. Sunderland fans weren’t so impressed with Hjelde though, and many thought Jobe Bellingham had a pretty poor evening too.
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Gary Bennett rues Jobe Bellingham performance vs Sheffield Wednesday
Bellingham has endured a mixed run of form lately. Despite what’s been a very good season on the whole, with Bellingham linked with Arsenal and Crystal Palace among others, the 19-year-old has looked a bit leggy of late.
There’s been cries for Bellingham to be given a rest ahead of what looks like a play-off bout for Sunderland. And against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night, Bellingham’s tiredness showed.
Speaking on Total Sport after the game, BBC pundit and former Sunderland man Gary Bennett said: “He was quiet. As the game went on he started to grow into the game and right near the end he started to get hold of the ball and started to drive forward. I just think he’s just finding his feet again.”
Jobe Bellingham’s stats for Sunderland against Sheffield Wednesday
Bellingham’s stats certainly showcase that he maybe didn’t get o the ball as much as he usually does, and as much as a central midfielder should be doing.
He record just 28 accurate passes on the night with a pass accuracy of 85%, as well as recording the 6th most touches of any Sunderland player (51).
| Statistic | Jobe vs Sheff Weds |
| Passes | 28/33 (85%) |
| Touches | 51 |
| Possession lost | 9 |
| Defensive actions | 9 (7 clearances) |
| Duels | 5/6 won |
On top of that, Bellingham made just the 9th most duels of any of his Black Cats teammates (five out of six won), losing possession nine times on the night.
On a positive though, Bellingham recorded nine defensive actions on the night with seven clearances to his name, highlighting how he always does the dirty work, even when he’s not getting involved in the attacking play as much.