Michael Beale's side suffered their first defeat of 2024 in the Championship with a 2-1 defeat at Ipswich Town.
A poor second-half display saw them squander an important point on the road, after a bright opening 45 minutes.
Beale's side opened the scoring through some magic from Jack Clarke after good work from Abdoullah Ba down the right-hand side. The Tractorboys levelling just five minutes later with Kayden Jackson capitalising on a fortuitous loose ball, after Pierre Ekwah had blocked Conor Chaplin's intended ball out wide.
Chaplin got his name on the scoresheet with a bullet header to close the gap to league leaders Leicester City.
Here's a look at some of the key talking points from the game...
Abdoullah Ba’s opportunity to stake a claim
Michael Beale made one change from the side that suffered a 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United with Abdoullah Ba coming in for striker Nazariy Rusyn. It’s the fourth time since his arrival the head coach has lined-up without a striker in the starting XI. Beale’s reasoning for doing so was down to Ba’s cameo against the Magpies from the bench and his performances in training over the last week, making for a talking point for the red and white fanbase ahead of kick-off.
Dropping Rusyn to the bench came as a shock, after all, the 25-year-old broke his duck against Preston North End in the last fixture and was isolated against the Magpies in the FA Cup last weekend. For Ba, it was a point to prove having struggled in recent weeks. The Frenchman started on the right-hand side, with Jobe Bellingham and Alex Pritchard in central roles, a repeat of their set-up on the road at Hull City.
The Black Cats didn’t get the 20-year-old into the game much in the opening 20 minutes, but he sprung into life for Sunderland’s opener. He showed great feet to create space on the right-hand side of the penalty area, drove into the box and managed to poke the ball into the path of Jack Clarke just when he looked to have overrun the ball. The Black Cats talisman with a brilliant finish to break the deadlock and notch his 13th goal of the season.
Ba had a quiet opening 45 minutes aside from his moment of magic on the edge of the box, but that was in part due to his defensive duties in keeping Leif Davis’ marauding runs from left-back in check. Perhaps lacking in confidence, the youngster ballooned an effort over the bar just before the hour mark, with Trai Hume a better option on the overlap, or maybe over eager to impress. He was replaced by fellow Frenchman Adil Aouchiche in the 65th minute, but it was a steady outing from Ba.
Sloppiness on the ball
It was that shape - a 4-2-4 out of possession – that saw Sunderland win the ball back in promising areas of the pitch, starting the game the better of the two sides. Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, Pritchard and Jobe created a box when the hosts had the ball, either side of Ipswich’s two holding midfielders Jack Taylor and Lewis Travis. They triggered their press when the ball went into the Tractorboys midfield duo to good effect in the opening stages of the game. It forced Town into errors and possession overturned too cheaply from the hosts perspective, a real positive for Beale and his side - in the first-half at least.
The problem for Sunderland came once they’d won the ball back. Their sloppiness in possession has been the main disappointment in recent weeks and that continued today. When the Black Cats had an opportunity to spring on the counter, they either misplaced their pass or took too many touches and Ipswich were able to recover possession. It was a theme throughout the 90 minutes and a disappointing second-half display a sign of where this young group is at, their hard work undone by their sloppiness with the ball and poor decision making.
Adil Aouchiche's cameo to forget
Aouchiche may have only been on the pitch a matter of seconds but he missed a golden opportunity to restore Sunderland's lead. Vaclav Hladky gifted the ball to Jack Clarke inside Ipswich's 18-yard box, he squared it to the substitute, who had the goal at his mercy, but dragged his effort wide of the post. The hosts took advantage of their gift from Lady Luck to equalise, but Aouchiche lacked the composure fresh off the bench.
It would go from bad to worse for the Frenchman, minutes later he gave away the free-kick for Conor Chaplin's winner. A silly foul to give away in a dangerous area - especially with the delivery Leif Davis has from set-pieces. As if that wasn't enough, with Sunderland pushing for an equaliser, Aouchiche got in the way of Jobe, with both baring down on goal after a quick move down Ipswich's left. Alese's ball into the area avoided every Ipswich defender with two red and white shirts hovering, but the opportunity went begging.
Joe Ramage - A missed opportunity?
Michael Beale’s decision to stick with Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, Alex Pritchard and Jobe Bellingham at least provided some continuity to the starting line-up in the middle to final third – something Ipswich were unable to do as Kieran McKenna was forced into pairing a brand-new defensive midfield duo in Lewis Travis and Jack Taylor. Travis is a new arrival at Portman Road having joined on loan from Blackburn Rovers ahead of this game – the 26-year-old having made 22 appearances at Ewood Park this season, 12 as a starter. He was joined by Taylor, who was starting for just the sixth time for the Tractor Boys this season, with first choice pairing Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo missing.
That gave Beale’s side a potential opportunity to capitalise in a key area of the field and test the relationship of Taylor and Travis. Taylor’s first touch will have offered encouragement to Sunderland that they were able to get at both as he misplaced a pass into the returning Abdoullah Ba. It was distinguishable in the early stages how deep they were sitting, with a front four of Pritchard, Jobe, Jack Clarke and Ba causing plenty of food for thought. Pritchard and Jobe’s movement in particular ensured Taylor and Travis were stuck largely inside their own half – Taylor then losing Ba which allowed Neil to thread a clever ball into Pritchard for the games first attempt at goal.
Sunderland’s bright start continued when Jobe then brought the first save of the game after Aji Alese was able to pinch the ball away from Harry Clarke down by the corner flag to drive into the area and pick out the 18-year-old who brought a good save from Vaclav Hladky. What was prominent, however, was that the trio of Clarke, Pritchard and Jobe were all ahead of Travis and Taylor either inside or on the edge of the area.
Sunderland certainly won the battle in testing a new pairing in the opening stages before Taylor then grabbed a foothold in the game for the home side. It came via an excellent diagonal ball out to Wes Burns which created a near miss for Ipswich when Kayden Jackson came within inches of sliding the hosts in front. It stirred the crowd and, in turn, stirred both Travis and Taylor who kicked on to dominate for a 10-minute period prior to Clarke giving Sunderland the lead.
To the Black Cats' credit, they were able to wrestle back the initiative in that area of the field, first through a clever drop of the shoulder from Neil to bring Clarke back into the game before a smart run from Jobe allowed Sunderland to go direct over the top of the defence. Jobe teed up Pritchard who played a first-time ball into Clarke where the winger might have done better. Again though, Pritchard and Jobe had slipped in behind Travis and Taylor to cause problems.
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Travis and Taylor ended the half with 69 touches between them while Pritchard, Clarke and Jobe combined for 84 touches between them which shows how finely poised the battle was. Beale narrowed his front four to squeeze Travis and Taylor which contributed, but Ipswich were able to enjoy some success early in the second half – particularly though Travis when finding space midway inside Sunderland’s half to find Clarke who brought another fine save from Patterson.
The game was being played more in Sunderland’s half after the break as both were advanced more than we had seen in the opening 45 minutes, with Sunderland more of a threat on the counter. But despite Travis and Taylor gaining the upper-hand over Ekwah and Neil in the second half, Travis’ game ended midway through the half as McKenna went searching for all three points – something they managed thanks to Chaplin’s header.
Sunderland did get some joy from Travis and Taylor, but given it was their first paring together there will be regret they weren’t able to make it count more as they ultimately came away from Portman Road empty-handed.
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