RATINGS V COVENTRY

Sunderland won away from home against Coventry City for the first time since 1985 and it came in the most crucial match on the road of the season. A Wilson Isidor strike gave us the lead before the hosts quickly levelled. Eliezer Mayenda was able to take advantage of a huge defensive error though and we won the game close to the end.

ANTHONY PATTERSON: 7/10

A few of his claims looked a bit dodgy but none of them caused any major issues in the end. As the game went on he became more assured and he saved a header in stoppage time. Distribution could have been better definitely, but we opted to go long throughout this match so it wasn't a massive issue.

TRAI HUME: 7.5/10

Some lovely slide tackling. Didn’t notice any errors, perhaps could have let the ball go out for a throw in at one point rather than booting it into the path of on of their players, that’s a very minor gripe though. He was involved in a lot of our well-worked set pieces and had a few half-chances from them.

DAN BALLARD: 9.5/10

They couldn’t get past him today, won everything he went for and was on the end of most of Coventry's crosses. He dribbled forward brilliantly at one point. On a slightly different day he could have scored as well.

LUKE O’NIEN: 9/10

Looked assured and won a foul in our box at one point to prevent a chance that could have resulted in something. Worked well alongside the more imposing Ballard.

DENNIS CIRKIN: 7/10

Got a bit of a stupid booking and the goal did come from his side. He was generally good though on a really tough evening and his work rate was fantastic in the closing stages.

PATRICK ROBERTS: 7/10

One shot from him, which he should have done better with. Didn't see a whole lot of the ball and I just don’t think he made his presence known enough when challenging for it.

DAN NEIL: 9/10

Fantastic from the captain, never looked in any danger and fished the ball out a few times after set pieces. It was his awareness which kick-started our counter-attacking opener.

JOBE BELLINGHAM: 9/10

Another really good shift from one of our midfielders. Remained calm and collected and put a foot in when needed. Particularly one brilliantly-timed challenge in the box at the death.

ENZO LE FEE: 8/10

Assisted the opening goal with a wonderful pass, this came from him drifitng into the middle of the pitch. When he was out wide he wasn’t as effective but still created a decent number of chances. Beated too easily for their goal, but also applied pressure to cause their mistake for Mayenda's winner.

ELIEZER MAYENDA: 8.5/10

Not on the ball loads but he made it count when he was. Took advantage of a defensive error to win us the game and created his other shots from very little, often taking on multiple players at once rather easily. Some good old fashioned centre forward play at times.

WILSON ISIDOR: 8/10

Had the ball at his feet even less than Mayenda did but he made a few off the ball runs that kept attacks alive. His goal was testament to some brilliant work rate and composure to beat the offside trap and then provide the finish.

SUBS:

CHRIS RIGG: 6.5/10

Limited involvement but there wasn’t much time for him to grow into things. What he did do was generally good however.

CHRIS MEPHAM: N/A

No complaints about his performance but he wasn’t on the pitch long enough for a rating.

ALAN BROWNE: N/A

Had a matter of seconds on the pitch and made exactly one touch, so no rating.