Sunderland earned their first point of the season after Jermain Defoe’s equaliser denied Swansea City maximum points at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night.
The Black cats were written-off as Swansea were traveling to Wearside, but Dick Advocaat’s team put in their best performance of the season so far at home. The frantic start to the match did not bring any real chances in front of goal, but the energy at the Stadium of Light influenced Sunderland rather forcefully. The Jacks needed a quarter of an hour to get the ball on the ground and start building up from defence.
Bafetimbi Gomis’ goal late in the stoppage time of the first-half gave the lead to the visiting team, after Kyle Naughton managed to get the ball past Sunderland’s defenders. The second period started with Swans pilling on the pressure in front of Costel Pantillimon’s goal and Advocaat’s side were lucky not to concede again.
However, Sunderland’s swift counter-attack resulted in Jeremain Lens finding Defoe, whose goal leveled the result with 30 minutes to go. Swansea were unable to control the game in the latter stages, still managing to create a few good chances, but the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson and Andre Ayew could not find the net. With Sunderland’s free kick threats late in the match, the result could have changed, but Advocaat’s men will be content with the draw as well.
Energetic Sunderland
After two starting defeats to Leicester City and Norwich City, Wearside needed to bounce back. As Swansea manager Garry Monk said on Friday, the Black Cats were expected to fight harder than in the first two matches and that is what they did. The opening 20 minutes showed Sunderland players were ready to make improvemenst and their high level of energy caused problems for the Swans.
Not lacking physically either, Advocaat’s players dully delivered with Lens and Jack Rodwell pulling fast attacks when they were given space. The Dutch manager wanted to see spark in the players and they showed him much-needed determination. There is still plenty of space for improvement, but compared to the last two matches, Sunderland are showing signs of progress.
Sigurdsson’s lack of creative influence
In a match where Swansea players completed 407 passes, Sigurdsson did not look like the one pulling all the strings. His unsteady performance against Newcastle was well supplemented by Jefferson Montero, Jonjo Shelvey and Ayew, but his creativity was needed against a much more fearless opponent this weekend. The Icelander completed just 23 passes, with 10 of them in the attacking-third. Most of those were designed for side players and Sigurdsson’s directness towards the opponent goal was unconvincing.
With Shelvey and Ayew not being in the mood as they were in previous matches, Sigurdsson was supposed to put his game to a higher level. He did manage to threaten Pantillimon from distance a couple of times, but he never actually made a pass towards the Sunderland box.
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Sunderland’s vulnerability in the air
The Black Cats managed to improve from their last two outings, yet their game is not really flawless. Advocaat made a right call to put John O’Shea back in the starting XI, but that did not end problems in the air. Sunderland were much vulnerable in that area, with the Swans connecting nine crosses, two of those being a huge threat on goal.
Swansea City are not really a team that scores a lot from either set-pieces or deep crosses, but Sunderland had difficulties to stop Ayew and Gomis heading the ball on target. Both fullbacks will have to give less space to opposing wingers, and defending set-pieces remains a problem for Advocaat’s players. With the right attitude that they displayed overnight, and improved defending from corners and free-kicks, Sunderland could go on to make problems to a lot of teams this season.
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