Swansea 2-1 Sunderland – Match Report & Player Ratings

Report

The Black Cats’ drop down to 11th place after a disappointing defeat at the Swansea.com Stadium.

Swansea started the game quickly, coming very close to scoring in the opening 3 minutes as Ben Cabango got his head on the end of a corner, but Patterson showed smart reflexes to keep it out.

After just 13 minutes, Swansea opened the scoring thanks to Oliver Cooper’s tame shot deflected off Luke O’Nien and went into the back of the net.

Swansea then spent the majority of the first half, slowing the pace of the game down and not letting the Black Cats’ have much of the ball.

Just as Sunderland thought they were going into half-time, just one goal down, defender, Harry Darling managed to squeeze the ball home following a free-kick situation.

Sunderland came out in the second half fighting, and got a goal after just 6 minutes thanks to Jack Clarke, who scored with a superb finish with his weaker left foot.

The Black Cats’ struggled to keep up their momentum going into the later stages, but they did have a chance to equalise when Jack Clarke looked to have been taken down in the area in the last moments of the game.

Unfortunately, the referee ruled it as simulation and Clarke was booked.

Player Ratings

Patterson – 6

Made a few smart saves. But he needs to be stronger on set-peices and his distribution could’ve been a lot better.

Lynden Gooch – 5

Not a good performance from Gooch today. Gave the ball away too many times and was caught out of position a few times too.

Luke O’Nien – 5

Between him and Gooch, they were giving Swansea too much space in the box.

Danny Batth – 6

Slightly better than O’Nien, looked more comfortable in the second half than he did the first.

Aji Alese – 6

Looked OK defensively, and always offered support going forward.

Carry Evans – 6

He’s had better games this season. Didn’t look as calm as usual.

Dan Neil – 5

Cheap booking early on. He was quite quiet at times.

Elliot Embleton – 6

Quiet in the first half, came to life in the second. He was one of the players who was always looking to make something happen.

Alex Pritchard – 5

Struggled to compete physically with Swansea’s defence as he tried to fill in the gap we have upfront.

Jack Clarke – 6

Brilliant goal. Caused them problems at times.

Patrick Roberts – 6

He was always trying to get us forward, but struggled against his man.

SUBS

Jewison Bennette – 6

Looked dangerous when he first came on but failed to keep up that intensity.

Amad Diallo – 6

Created himself a great opportunity but he shot straight at the ‘Keeper.

Abdoullah Ba – 5

Struggled when he came know, didn’t really do much.

Jay Matete – 6

Gave his all but with little reward.

MoTM – Jack Clarke, just for his goal.