My pre-match enthusiasm for a successful Sunderland result was quickly dampened when, after just eight minutes, Mason Mount brought the ball down with a deft touch and passed it into the net past Robin
Roefs at Old Trafford on Saturday.
It was, perhaps, a reminder that the Premier League is an unforgiving mistress, and even at a low point, every single team at this level has the quality and capability within their ranks to devastate you with a moment of quality.
Could and should Sunderland have got something from this game? I’d argue yes – after we went 2-0 down and made tactical and personnel changes, I think the Lads created more than enough chances to give ourselves a decent chance of evening the scores, but it just wasn’t to be. There wasn’t much in it, but we didn’t take the chances that we did have, and unfortunately, it just wasn’t our day.
That’s the other side to the Premier League too – you absolutely need to take your chances, otherwise you’ll be punished. Minutes into the game, Bertrand Traore missed the ball as it ran across him from ten yards out; Dan Ballard’s free header just before half-time hit the side netting when it really should have made the inside of Senne Lammens’ goal bulge; and there were shots from Granit Xhaka, Eliezer Mayenda, and Chemsdine Talbi that, really, we ought to have done better with.
It could have been much worse, and you absolutely have to credit Régis Le Bris and his players for not letting the game run away from them. Instead, we shored things up, and we were competitive.
We’ve now played seven games at this level, and in none of them have we not been in the game. That in itself is something to take pride in, because it shows we can compete. Sure, we won’t win every single match, but to expect us to do that would be farcical. All we can realistically expect is that the players show the desired effort required, and if it’s not good enough on the day, then we just hold our hands up and move on quickly.
That said, we were not helped by the officiating, and it feels to me that the poor decision-making from Stuart Attwell and his assistants has gone under the radar.
The decision to reverse the penalty call still baffles me, as, regardless of whether or not contact was made, it’s a high boot – anywhere else on the pitch, that’s a foul, so why not in the box? How, with the benefit of VAR, was the correct decision not reached?
Then, later in the game, there was the call to book Bertrand Traore for diving when he was obviously fouled. This is where I don’t understand the use of VAR, because if Traore had collected a second yellow and had been sent off, it would have been unfair, as he shouldn’t have received the booking in the first place. Shouldn’t the VAR officials be able to contact the referee in that instance and tell him he got it wrong? Bruno Fernandes and, to a slightly lesser extent, Senne Lammens can count themselves lucky that they got away with that one.
It’s a shame to be heading into the international break on the back of a defeat, but we can hold our heads up high, take advantage of the time that the break affords us, and then go out and give a good account of ourselves against Wolves at the Stadium of Light.
Hopefully, we can stretch our good run of home form against a team who are struggling – another win would signal we’re still heading in the right direction and are looking at what can be constituted as a good season for Sunderland.
