The 0-0 draw between Wolves and Newcastle was the second goalless game of the weekend, and the 17th of the season. This is already more than last season, and six more than in the whole of the 2023-24 season. Stalemates
are often dull and are usually examples of strikers having off days or goalkeepers having a blinder. This is true for most of them, but the context of these games is so important. Sunderland have been involved in three 0-0 draws so far this season, away at Crystal Palace and Brighton, and then at home to Man City. From our perspective, all three have been rewarding and were achieved thanks to back-to-the-wall defending and plenty of grit.
The Palace game was only the fourth game of the season, but looking back, it was the first that showed how solid we wanted to be. The FA Cup holders hammered Villa 3-0 in the previous game, but we were fantastic at the back to pick up a brilliant point on the road.
Dogged defending is a thing of beauty, and one that is overlooked far too often. There is an art in defending, and this season, having conceded 23 in 22 games, we’ve shown ourselves to be masters of this particular art.
Every point in the Premier League should be celebrated, and maybe that’s why a battling 0-0 draw feels so good. The Man City game was a perfect example of good old fashioned, honest, gutsy defending with players celebrating blocks and tackles.
This tough attitude should be commended, and there’s nothing wrong with grinding out results here and there. Promoted teams need to come up and be hard to beat, and five losses in 22 games prove we’ve done just that.
There may have been some boring 0-0 draws in the Premier League this season, but I wouldn’t class ours in any of these. Maybe that’s a Sunderland bias shining through, but at full-time against Man City, I felt as though I’d watched a proper game of football where both sides had chances, but both defences prevailed over the forwards, and it was a back-and-forth kind of game in this sense.
There has been talk that the Premier League this season is weaker and more boring than in recent years, which seems odd considering that, for the first time in a long time, more than one promoted team has come up and competed. Last season saw three crap teams get promoted and go straight back down with not much of a whimper. It’s almost as if the established sides don’t like it when promoted teams show some fight, which is what we and Leeds are doing in spadefuls.
We’ll probably have at least one more 0-0 draw this season, and when that comes, it will likely be just as gutsy and fulfilling as the three we have in the bag. I’m still full of pride for Sunderland thriving back in the Premier League and each block, tackle, and header is a step closer towards sealing our status in the top flight next season.
