As someone who generally tries to find the positives in everything, my attitude leading into the game was that Sunderland could – largely due to the brilliant results against Bournemouth and Liverpool – go into the Manchester City game free of pressure, knowing that the result would be relatively inconsequential.
I have to admit, though, that as soon as the teams were named, I, for the first time this season, got nervous. I started panicking about Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki, because as we all know
they are just one yellow card away from being suspended for one game, and the absence of Reinildo Mandava had me panicking that something could be seriously wrong.
I needn’t have worried, because Reinildo is going to be fine for next weekend, as are Granit and Noah, but the fact we can’t help but have one eye on the derby game against Newcastle ultimately had a strong bearing on the performance and result at the Etihad Stadium.
The team lined up in their now-familiar 5-4-1 formation, with Wilson Isidor and Bertrand Traoré returning in place of Brian Brobbey and Chemsdine Talbi, whilst Lutsharel Geertruida came into the reshuffled back line in place of the aforementioned Mandava, with Trai Hume moving across to left-back and Nordi Mukiele on the right.
Clearly, the knowledge that one bad tackle could see them miss the most important game of the season had a profound effect on our midfield duo, and their lack of aggression without the ball meant that Sunderland, for all their best efforts, just couldn’t overwhelm Pep Guardiola’s side in the way that we have done previously against other top opposition.
Instead, we played a patient game where shape and staying organised trumped all else, and you have to say that for the first thirty or so minutes it worked a treat. City, despite dominating the ball, struggled to create openings and could barely get the ball to Erling Haaland, who was marshalled superbly by Dan Ballard at the heart of the Sunderland defence.
We had to pick our moments when to get out and counter against Manchester City, and on the rare occasions that we did we actually looked very sharp. The passing was quick, slick, and we moved forward as a unit. When we lost possession, everyone immediately dropped back into position to ensure that we couldn’t be taken advantage of.
Sadly, one of the things that sets Manchester City apart from the majority of other teams is the individual quality that they possess in their ranks, and with chances few and far between, their opening goal came from an unlikely source. Rúben Dias let fly from range, and with his shot taking a huge deflection off Dan Ballard, it nestled into the top corner of the net to give his side the lead. In all honesty, without the deflection the ball would have gone straight into the palms of Robin Roefs, but you have to credit the Portuguese defender for his initiative – after all, if you don’t buy a ticket, you can’t win the lottery.
With Sunderland’s game plan out of the window, we didn’t have much time to adjust and, before you knew it, City had a second. This time we can’t really blame deflections or anything else, as it was just poor defending. Enzo Le Fée struggled to contain Joško Gvardiol, who ran through him like a train to get on the end of a corner and double the home side’s advantage.
Stunned, Sunderland just tried their best to get into half-time and just about managed it, but there was work to do.
I’ve got to credit the way we came out in the second half, because it could have gone one of two ways, and thankfully we chose to be positive and take the game to City. We created some great chances, with Wilson Isidor seeing his one-on-one brilliantly saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma and Granit Xhaka hitting the post, but as a result of our positivity City broke forward and killed off the game with a stunning third.
I can’t even be mad about that one – the assist from Rayan Cherki was sublime as he rabona’d the ball onto the head of the onrushing Phil Foden, and he nodded past Roefs to finish things off in style.
After then, it was about just getting over the line, and thankfully Le Bris decided to withdraw Xhaka and Sadiki, which means both men will be available next weekend. Both players are so unbelievably effective, but their biggest strength is their aggression without the ball, and because they basically had to play without it, it was tantamount to chopping off their legs. Their biggest weapon was removed, and unfortunately that’s the way it is – these are all important games, but no game is more important than the one against Newcastle, and it’s just the way that it is.
Late in the game we saw a raft of subs, including the introduction of Luke O’Nien for his second appearance of the season. Having enjoyed such a huge high on Wednesday in making his first Premier League appearance, Luke came crashing back down to earth with a bang when, deep into injury time, he was sent off for a shocking challenge on Matheus Nunes that he really didn’t need to make. The game was already lost, the referee was not too far from blowing the final whistle, and you just don’t expect such an experienced player to make silly decisions, but he did and he’ll now have to suffer the consequences. I doubt he’d have played against Newcastle, but with so many players heading off to the AFCON, there’s a high chance he’d have been needed from the bench against Brighton and Leeds, and now we’re going to have to do without him.
Soon after, the final whistle was blown, and many others and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. We just wanted this game over and done with, as now we can firmly look forward to next Sunday’s derby match. The big obstacle was ensuring Xhaka and Sadiki weren’t sent off or injured, and once both men were withdrawn, you could sense and hear the change in mood from the Sunderland supporters in the away end. Focus almost instantly turned to Newcastle, and the chants from the fans were a sign to the players and the manager that we were already over this one. Hopefully, after a good night’s sleep, the players will feel the same and won’t think too much about what went wrong in Manchester.
