Jack Clarke rescues Sunderland in Rotherham United draw

Sunderland came from behind to rescue a point against Rotherham as Michael Beale’s side ended 2023 seventh in the Championship table.

For all of Sunderland’s early dominance in terms of possession, they avoided a triple scare midway through the first half with Anthony Patterson at his best to thwart Sam Nombe on multiple occasions. Nombe was played through clear on goal from Sunderland’s high defensive line after Jordan Hugil pounced on a mistake in midfield – Patterson spread himself well to turn behind before then getting a vital touch to push Nombe’s near-post flick from the resulting corner onto the top of the bar.

Rotherham, and Nombe, weren’t quite done, however, as the Millers recycled possession once more from another corner with Nombe taking aim from the edge of the area only for Patterson to turn around the post with an excellent stop. Hakeem Odoffin then headed over shortly before the break with Sunderland fortunate to go in level at the break.

They were behind within three minutes of the restart though as Clucas took advantage of slack headed clearance from Pierre Ekwah with a stunning strike from distance to beat Patterson.

It felt as though it was going to be another one of those evenings for Sunderland until Clarke fired his 12th goal of the season courtesy of a deflection which looped over Rotherham goalkeeper Viktor Johansson with Beale’s side then unable to turn their late pressure into a winner.

And here we look at some of the key talking points from the New York Stadium:

Michael Beale's enforced change

It’s a challenging period of the year for any manager and head coach; how do you plot your way through as many fixtures in such a small space of time without suffering injuries, all the while maintaining your form?

For Beale, that task was made a little easier off the back of a first win as head coach in Boxing Day’s win over Hull City. After what had been a pretty desperate homecoming, at least in terms of the result against Coventry City, a first win as head coach was a warm Christmas welcome. Irrespective of this game coming just 72 hours later – a third in six days – Beale was always likely to stick with as near to the same winning side as he could from Humberside.

The only change was an enforced one, with Bradley Dack heading out of the starting line-up after picking up a hamstring injury in that win over Hull with Beale continuing to opt out of using one of his out-and-out strikers with Nazariy Rusyn and Mason Burstow on the bench and Eliezer Mayenda left out of the squad for the returning Aji Alese.

Adil Aouchiche was the man brought in after proving to be a unique lynchpin in Sunderland’s attack in the second half of Boxing Day’s success. Like most of Sunderland’s flair, attacking midfield players, Aouchiche has shown he can be effective around the edge of penalty area but it’s about the next phase for Sunderland which has continuously left them wanting this season. Beale has already referenced being efficient between both boxes and yet the dilemma of persisting with a lack of out-and-out striker against experimenting with an inexperienced striker continues to be the main talking point every time a Sunderland team sheet lands.

Jewison Bennette’s return to the bench offered another attacking option – the Costa Rican included for the first time since October’s Wear-Tees derby defeat to Middlesbrough after conflicting suggestions the 19-year-old could be one of those the club will look to loan out in the January window. But again, that same old story remained present.

Sunderland had scored just six goals in eight games since returning from November’s international break prior to this trip to the New York Stadium. It’s a return which you don’t often associate with a promotion-contending side, unless you are watertight at the opposite end. It’s nothing new to Sunderland this season, but it will continue to be a real point of debate when they don’t win games.

Adil Aouchiche misses chance to shine

And as it is, it was another game in which the problem was brought to light.

Sunderland enjoyed a bright start and plenty of territory in the Rotherham half but gave Johansson very little to do in goal – Dan Neil’s speculative effort from distance about the best they could muster up in what turned into another attritional night in front of goal.

Aouchiche lasted just 45 minutes before being withdrawn at half-time for Burstow having flattered to deceive. The Frenchman was paired with Jobe Bellingham in attack as Beale again approached the game with a front four, with the two rotating between taking the mantle of operating as the No.9 and No.10 in and out of possession.

Yet Aouchiche, too often, was found drifting towards the left-hand-side to pick up possession from Trai Hume or Neil, which meant when Jobe had fallen back into the No.10 role there was very little alternative to run in behind.

On the odd occasion Aouchiche did task himself with running in behind, he found it difficult up against the physicality of Sean Morrison and Seb Raven. It meant he continued to drop deeper for the ball which didn’t always work with a number of heavy touches resulting in a turnover in possession as well as a yellow card for team-mate Jobe who had to act accordingly to deal with a loss of possession from Aouchiche.

The midfielder ended the half with just 27 touches – only Patterson in goal and Patrick Roberts and Abdoullah Ba, who both did not feature for the full 45 minutes, had fewer in the first half.

Burstow’s introduction was initially bright when picking up the ball just inside his own half before turning and spreading wide to Ba to move Sunderland up the field a little more swiftly, but it was something which was all too infrequent.

The first glimpse of Timothee Pembélé and Alex Pritchard’s impact

Sunderland have had to wait almost six months to see French defender Timothee Pembélé in action after arriving injured from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. The 21-year-old came on for Jenson Seelt midway through the second half after Seelt had kept his place in the team at right-back following an impressive showing at Hull.

Pembélé’s introduction was met with encouragement from the travelling fans behind the goal and his initial link-up with Alex Pritchard was further cause for encouragement with Sunderland, seemingly, now having an outlet on the right with Hume having to play on the left of defence owing to the injury sustained to Niall Huggins against Coventry.

Everything was a little too much huff with very little puff for Sunderland prior to the introduction of Pembélé and Pritchard. The near 2,500 behind the goal had serenaded Pritchard’s name in particular throughout the second half and he did not disappoint when coming on as it was his cross which led to the equaliser.

Pritchard’s introduction in games has been a consistent theme in recent weeks with Sunderland tending to reap the rewards when he comes on. He assisted twice against West Bromwich Albion before adding another against Leeds United days later. Sunderland scored within minutes of him coming on in Boxing Day’s win over Hull and did so again here as his teasing cross was punched clear by Johansson as far as Clarke who saw his strike loop into the back of the net.

The two substitutes then almost combined for a winner in stoppage time when Pritchard clipped another inviting cross in towards the near post for Pembélé who brought a smart save from Johansson.

Pritchard continues to find himself in that unwanted position of being an impactful substitute without being afforded starting berths. The midfielder was one of the more experienced players who the club were considering moving on from in the summer having been told a new deal would not be forthcoming. Given his form of late, that is a decision the club may need to rethink.

Early setback for Patrick Roberts

Sunderland were hit with a significant setback after just 15 minutes in South Yorkshire when Roberts was withdrawn with an injury.

For all Roberts has struggled to produce the go-to numbers in terms of goals and assists this season – his miss against Hull three days earlier a prime example of things just not quite clicking in the final phase for him as yet - he remains an integral part of the way in which Sunderland play. The winger continues to be a player who people expect things to happen from when in possession of the ball and he had started relatively brightly before going down after a defensive clearance.

Beale wasted little time in turning to Ba from the bench, with Roberts not even afforded the opportunity to try and shake the injury off in the interim period as he was immediately withdrawn. The winger was weight-bearing when walking himself around the perimeter of the pitch which is encouraging, but with New Year’s Day’s meeting with Preston North End followed by a Wear-Tyne derby tie with Newcastle United, Beale erred on the side of caution having conceded after the win over Hull how Sunderland make ‘allowances’ for both Roberts and Clarke.

Ba’s inconsistency has led to frustrations at times this season but he remains the main replacement for Roberts this season – particularly if the idea is to move Bennette out on loan in January.

Sunderland's form against bottom sides and negotiating the Christmas period

Twelve months ago Sunderland were on the road in their 25th game of the Championship season against the side bottom of the table. It ended in an impressive 4-1 win over Wigan Athletic as Tony Mowbray’s side started to demonstrate just why they were a threat back at this level and why they would make the play-offs come the end of the season.

Imperative to that kind of end result is your form against teams who are struggling in the division and Sunderland were certainly effective in that regard on the road last season in taking 13 points from a possible 15 away from home to the bottom five of the table.

So far this season, Sunderland had been able to continue that trend with a maximum haul of points from their first three fixtures against teams in the bottom three heading into this. But the trip to Rotherham, although bottom of the table, represented a potential banana skin with the Millers having taken points off Leeds and Middlesbrough on home soil in recent weeks and 14 of their 16 points amassed this season coming at the New York Stadium.

Nevertheless, this was a Rotherham side who offered the worst xG in the league through the first half of the season at just 15, as well as offering up the highest xG against in the division at 44.6. For those who like their stats it was a meeting between the top and bottom sides when it comes to progressive carries – the kind of data which would suggest it could be one way traffic.

But the home side made things tough for Sunderland. Despite their early dominance in terms of possession, Sunderland found themselves in a battle, with Rotherham dogged in their approach. For all Liam Richardson had a style of play when in charge of Wigan, it was almost back to basics with the Millers; old school balls forward and into the box. And it worked, with Rotherham unfortunate not to be in front at the break before it did then pay off within minutes of the restart.

Beale credited Sunderland’s mentality in the win over Hull, having bounced back from a chastening afternoon against Coventry, and he is likely to have been impressed again here as they rallied in the latter stages of the game to come away with a point. While Johansson remained untested with anything clear cut, Sunderland started to produce wave after wave of pressure that eventually told.

A draw is still likely to be seen as points dropped, and yet if you had offered Beale four points from a possible six in these two festive away fixtures he likely would have taken it – even if you would have expected them to perhaps come the other way around.

The Christmas period will always take its toll, but Sunderland remain on course for a decent haul of points should they convert three on New Year's Day against Preston. Last season, Sunderland took seven from a possible nine in the Christmas week on route to landing in the play-offs, with the 2023-24 Sunderland crop matching that of the 2022-23 crop on 37 points to close out the calendar year. They will take that again, should they get it, all things considered.