Lincoln City 0-0 Sunderland – Match Report

Sunderland stay in the top 6 despite a goaless draw at out of form Lincoln City.

The first half was a scrappy one that the Black Cats’ just edged out in terms of chances.

Jack Clarke missed 2 half chances seeing his efforts just wide of the left hand post and Patrick Roberts saw an effort deflected over the bar.

Sunderland started the second half brightly as Jack Clarke tried to curl one in from just inside the box but again saw his effort fire just wide of the post.

The Black Cats’also came close with captain Corry Evans hitting the post from the centre of the box 10 minutes into the 2nd half.

The Black Cats’ dominated throughout with Patrick Roberts at the heart of everything Sunderland was creating however due to poor finishing they just could not break the deadlock.

As the game was coming to a close, The Black Cats’ started to look increasingly dangerous with Lincoln goalkeeper Jordan Wright making a spectacular save after a header from top scorer Ross Stewart.

Sunderland also had a huge penalty shout waved away by the referee after Lynden Gooch was dragged down by defender Joe Walsh in the 56th minute. Looking back at it now it looked a definite penalty.

The Imps finished the game strongly with Anthony Patterson making a fantastic save after a header from Liam Cullen just inside the six-yard box in the 82nd minute but both sides held on for the draw.

My Views

I do believe it was a better performance from the lads but what are we doing in training in terms of finishing?!

We created a hat full of chances, only seeing 4 shots on target, 2 of them coming in the last 5 minutes.

Thankfully, a few of the teams dropped points around us today so we sit in 6th battling with Sheffield Wednesday who do have a game in hand on us.

Although we would have liked a win today we are still 6 games unbeaten, which I would have happily taken after our awful run.

Hopefully we can keep pushing and improving under Alex Neil and comfortably reach the play offs in good form!

Player Ratings

Anthony Patterson 7/10

Another quiet afternoon for the young ‘keeper. Made one brilliant save towards the end.

Bailey Wright 7/10

A decent performance from the centre half. Nothing got passed him of note.

Carl Winchester 7/10

Similar to Wright. Always looked comfortable up against a physical presence in Marquis.

Dennis Cirkin 7/10

Another decent performance playing on the left of a back 3. Showed some brilliant driving runs to get us on the attack at times.

Corry Evans 6/10

Not a bad performance today by the captain and he was unlucky to see his shot hit the post.

Dan Neil 6/10

Some nice touches and passes from the youngster. He did give the ball away cheaply at times.

Luke O’Nien 7/10

A battling performance today in midfield. He also found some great forward passes. He was unlucky to see his header go over the bar in the first half.

Lynden Gooch 6/10

Gave 100% throughout, however he did lack in his final product.

Jack Clarke 7/10

Causes Lincoln a lot of problems and had some good chances. He probably should have put at least one away though.

Patrick Roberts 8/10

Everything we created came through him today. He also caused the home side a heap of problems. I would like to see him try and have a go himself sometimes.

Ross Stewart 6/10

Another quiet performance by the league’s top scorer. It looked like he won it at the end with a great header but the Lincoln ‘Keeper made a great save.

Jermain Defoe 6/10

Looked bright when he came on. Had a great opportunity as he was able to turn the Lincoln defender but he dragged his shot wide.

Leon Dajaku 5/10

Was quiet after coming on and every time he had the ball he struggled to get passed his man.

Callum Doyle N/A

Didn’t have much to do as he came on in the final stages.

Man of the Match – Patrick Roberts