Mike Dodds's Sunderland side picked up another point as their Championship campaign stumbles to a close.
The Black Cats were improved from their 5-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday, and should have comfortably come away with the three points this afternoon.
Missed opportunities and the woodwork their nemesis this afternoon. A reaction to the defeat against Blackburn but not the three points they would have liked.
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Here's the key talking points from Sunderland's draw with Bristol City:
A reaction from the Blackburn Rovers drubbing
Completely unacceptable. Crap. Some players warned they wouldn’t play for the club again unless performances improved. Mike Dodds said he expected a response after the 5-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers and that he got, but not the three points he would have like despite his sides best efforts.
The Sunderland interim head coach made three changes from the dismal outing on Easter Monday against Rovers, Leo Hjelde, Chris Rigg and Jack Clarke coming into the fold for Callum Styles, Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle.
The Black Cats have been too simple to play through in central areas of the pitch and needed more from their wide areas against Rovers. The changes today, a move from Dodds to correct that balance. Pierre Ekwah and Dan Neil were improved in the heart of midfield, still sloppy at times, but much better with the ball than they were against John Eustace’s side. The French midfielder won the ball back on a number of occasions in the first-half, halting Bristol City in their tracks as they looked to mount an attack. With 14 shots and an expected goals of 1.20 at the half-time interval, Sunderland should have been ahead at the break.
Bradley Dack’s header, which cannoned off the crossbar after Jobe’s flick on, the Black Cats best opportunity in the second-half. Mike Dodds will be left scratching his head as to why his side were unable to score. They did all the right things, just lacking that moment of quality.
Chris Rigg can make right-wing slot his own
Having impressed on the road at Cardiff City, it was a surprise to see Chris Rigg dropped from the starting XI against Blackburn. The Black Cats youngster was one of the standout performers against the Bluebirds, with Erol Bulut dragging off Josh Wilson-Esbrand at half-time with Rigg controlling that side of the pitch. Coming off the bench three days later, he grabbed Sunderland’s only goal of the game, his third of the season. A remarkable statistic for a 16-year-old.
It’s no surprise the England youth international remains a target for a number of Premier League sides after bursting onto the scene last year as a 15-year-old. The minutes he’s getting at Championship level indicative of not only his talent, but Sunderland’s faith in him, especially playing in an unorthodox right-wing role. Given Roberts’ struggles last time out, the academy graduate can make that position his own between now and the end of the season. After all, he has more goal contributions than his teammate.
With three goals in just over 600 minutes of football, Rigg’s eye for goal makes him a threat when he drifts in field onto his left, his energy and pace making him a problem for defenders. You could see from the off, that Bristol were going to have a problem dealing with him. When referee Leigh Doughty waved away appeals for a penalty after Rigg went down after skipping past Cameron Pring, it would have been a just reward for his bright start to the game. Unfortunately, nothing given.
The youngster did his fair share of defensive work for the side and found some good pockets of space out on the right, but Bristol’s switch to a 3-4-3 at half-time limited his impact in the final third second-half. He was replaced by Roberts after 65 minutes.
Aji Alese reminder
It took the returning Sunderland defender a matter of seconds to stake his claim for the left-back slot, sliding into a big tackle on the left-hand side of the Black Cats’ 18-yard box, replacing Leo Hjelde on the 65th minute mark. The Norwegian has struggled to make an impact since arriving at the Stadium of Light, jumping out of a tackle before his was replaced, much to the dismay of red and white supporters, tells you where his confidence is at.
It wasn’t just Alese’s physical presence that gave Sunderland a sturdier looking back line, his willingness to attack meant Bristol City couldn’t double up on Clarke. The left-back’s forward runs creating space for their talisman and dragging defenders away. Something the Black Cats have missed since the turn of the year in his absence.
Jack Clarke impresses on his first start back
Sunderland have waiting seven games without being able to call upon Jack Clarke in their starting XI but interim boss Dodds wasted little time in reintroducing the winger to his line-up against Bristol. Clarke’s return to the matchday squad felt as though it was a boost on Easter Monday – I’m sure the idea might have been to keep him on the bench in an ideal world.
But with Sunderland 4-0 down to Blackburn Rovers, Dodds felt inclined to bring the 23-year-old on, six weeks on from suffering and ankle ligament injury in the defeat to Birmingham City. Alas, even Clarke couldn’t turn that tide, as Sunderland succumbed to their heaviest defeat, and worst performance, of the season.
Dodds has erred on the side of caution with returning players of late, but has taken a different approach with Clarke who was one of three changes following the Blackburn debacle – both he and Chris Rigg offering a different dynamic on the wings.
Clarke’s first touch inside the opening few minutes was met with a huge roar as he carried Sunderland 20-yards up the field in what soon became a vintage first half display from the 15-goal forward. Having navigated their way through a cagey opening period in the game, Dodds will have been pleased his players were able to conjure up a reaction to Monday’s embarrassment – with Clarke at the heart of it.
Whenever he received possession, you could sense the unrest in Bristol’s defence with Mark Sykes, at right-wing, and the right-side of defence in George Tanner and Zak Vyner all drawn towards Clarke, freeing up space elsewhere in Sunderland’s attack for Jobe Bellingham, Adil Aouchiche and Rigg. It’s what Sunderland have missed throughout his period out the side and demonstrates again just he brings to the table.
Clarke sent an early warning when sliding a ball into Aouchiche in the penalty area, with the Frenchman unable to provide the return before Sunderland’s first big chance came through him when finding Jobe in the area who extended play wide to Rigg as both he and Dan Neil saw attempts blocked before Aouchiche dragged wide.
Everything started going through Clarke as he created another opportunity for Aouchiche inside the six-yard box before he then tested Max O’Leary himself. Having timed his press perfectly, Clarke forced a turnover from Tanner as Jobe clipped a clever ball back into the path of Clarke but his searching effort was palmed away.
O’Leary proved to be Sunderland’s nemesis in the first half with a number of fine stops, Clarke again denied when following up an initial save from Jobe. Clarke was responsible for four of Sunderland’s 14 attempts at goal in the first half, with 10 of his 26 touches coming inside the Bristol penalty area.
But it wasn’t just final third work which was impressive, it was his build up play, too. Time and again Clarke was able to clip a perfectly weighted ball down the channel into the likes of Jobe and Aouchiche, creating four opportunities in the opening 45 minutes – the 23-year-old also not shy in his defensive work.
The biggest instigator of Clarke’s success on his return to the side came at the break where Liam Manning made a change to his approach with the introduction of Ross McCrorie for Anis Mehmeti – a wide midfielder for a full-back. McCrorie’s introduction was accompanied by a change in shape for Bristol who reverted to a back five.
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Clarke was able to stretch his legs on the hour when racing clear from halfway towards Bristol’s penalty area, drawing as many as four defenders this time and was ever so close to finding Jobe in the area as a result before showing his class with a superb dummy on McCrorie to again lead another attack soon after.
Clarke’s endeavour should have resulted in the opening goal 15 minutes from time when driving through the heart of Bristol with Jobe and substitute Patrick Roberts available either side. Clarke reversed to Jobe who took too much time before being thwarted again by O’Leary.
Although Sunderland were unable to find a way past O’Leary, Clarke’s impact was undeniable as he demonstrated just how invaluable he is to this squad.
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