Simon Mignolet, Jordan Henderson and Fabio Borini all returned to Wearside to play at a windy Stadium of Light on this day in 2015. In particular, the presence of Borini in the Liverpool team was quite the surprise, given that he had barely had a look in despite opting against a much mooted return to Gus Poyet’s team after a successful loan spell the previous season.
Borini’s decision against returning to Sunderland was a bitter pill to swallow for the fans as the team looked glaringly toothless up
until this point in the season. Connor Wickham had been given the reins as the team’s main centre forward, but his inability to score consistently has resulted in the team having to grind out draws due to the limited attacking play that they can muster up.
After Liverpool’s new signing Lazar Markovic gave them an eighth-minute lead, it became extremely difficult for the home side to threaten in any way in a first half that saw the team barely create any opportunity on the Liverpool goal.
In fact, the game could have been over at halftime had Phillipe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard not been slightly wayward with their shooting. Henderson was ruling the midfield on his return to his boyhood club, and his control and leadership were beginning to frustrate our midfield, who were struggling to get near him.
Liam Bridcutt – one of Poyet’s purchases – was sent off for two yellow cards early into the second half after two bad tackles ensured he was going for an early shower. Inexplicably, we began to improve in his absence and actually created some (half) decent opportunities.
Moreover, it was the increase in energy that actually saw the fans get behind the team more in what truly was a really poor game of football. Due to injuries, Sunderland’s options off the bench were limited, but the manager did bring on Danny Graham and Will Buckley late on, hoping that they might provide that missing spark.
With minutes to go, the opportunity arrived when a shot from outside the box bounced off the inside corner of Mignolet’s post and went out. Despite their first-half dominance, Liverpool were almost punished for not getting a second, and after the game, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers did lament his side’s inability to close the game out despite having ‘real good control of the game’
As for Poyet, with the transfer window open, a striker had to be certainly top of his wishlist given the team’s lack of prolificacy during the season thus far. The manager admitted there’s nothing much he could say when boos began to ring around the Stadium of Light after another poor attacking performance.
In addition, the Uruguayan admitted his dismay at how the team looked better when playing with ten men in comparison to when the numbers were even on the bench.
Incredible. When you are 11 v 11 and have a better chance, sometimes you are a little bit too relaxed because you think it is even. Then, when you find yourself down to 10 the players bring something extra. It is a shame that we didn’t do that in the first half.
“We did practically nothing in the first half apart from wait for Liverpool to score. Then we had a go.
This was a bad year to be a Sunderland season ticket holder, given the number of insipid performances that the team were showing on the pitch. As it transpired, the signing of Jermain Defoe – a proven goalscorer – was a masterstroke as the veteran English striker came and scored vital goals that kept the team above relegation places as the season came to its climax.
