One Sunderland man surprisingly struggled in the defeat against Sheffield United.
The Black Cats lost out 1-0 to Sheffield United, with Blades midfielder Tom Davies getting the sole goal to hand Regis Le Bris’ side their first defeat in 10 games.
Sunderland will be disappointed that it was yet another disappointing game in regards to tangible product in attack, with the front three once again being unable to notch a goal, although Tommy Watson managed a brilliant showing for the Black Cats, despite the result.
In regards to the defence, ever-dependable centre-back Chris Mepham let his side down in the opening half after being handed a red card, although it didn’t look too costly in hindsight after Blades man Harry Souttar was also dismissed for a second yellow card.
Defensively, there was another Sunderland star who was uncharacteristically poor vs Chris Wilder’s side, something we have seen very rarely this season.
Sunderland defender Luke O’Nien was uncharacteristically poor vs Sheffield United
Despite the half-decent performance from Regis Le Bris’ side, some players stood out to being not massively up to scratch, with one of them being defender Luke O’Nien, who has previously been regarded as consistent and reliable at the back, no matter where he was utilised.
Mepham’s red card was costly, but it was in fact O’Nien’s poorly-hit pass that played him into chaos, and it has rightfully been described, per Sunderland Echo, as a ‘very loose pass’ that played Mepham into ‘trouble’.
The Black Cats man was utilised at left-back after Trai Hume was moved over to his more comfortable right-side, but it didn’t quite prove to be a brilliant move by Le Bris, whose club captain didn’t quite cover himself in glory in the defeat.
Luke O’Nien stats vs Sheffield United show he was off the pace
Sunderland club captain O’Nien was far from his usual self against Sheffield United, and the stats certainly prove that.
Per SofaScore, O’Nien managed just the two clearances and four tackles in the game. However, the amount of times where he lost possession is where he fell short, with it happening on 11 separate occasions, including in the build up to the Mepham sending off.
There is no doubt that O’Nien will bounce back from the poor showing, but the fact that he was out of form is a real issue for Sunderland, who really are showing disappointing signs recently.