ZAGREB MATCH REPORT

Sunderland fell victim to a disappointing defeat to Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League at the Stadium of Light.

Two first half goals for Dinamo Zagreb from Luke Strojkovic and Dion Drena Beljo saw Sunderland lose their first game in the Europa League despite a second half resurgence from Regis Le Bris’ side.

Despite being bottom of the Premier League, Sunderland remained unbeaten in the Europa League after three games, winning two of them, until tonight's game.

Pressure has begun to mount on Sunderland manager, Regis Le Bris, with his side without a win in the league since August but recent reports have suggested that his job is safe for the time being. Dinamo Zagreb went into the game with four points from their opening three games. In the HNL, the Croatian Football League, they sit in second place four points from Hajduk Split, winning three games out of their last five. The visitors were also under new management with Leko in charge as interim head coach.

KO

Sunderland had the first chance of the game after 10 minutes, a defence-splitting ball from Granit Xhaka found Chris Rigg on the right flank, his whipped cross found Jules Ahoka at the back post but his header was straight at Dominik Kotarski in goal.

But after 20 minutes, the visitors took the lead. A corner was flicked on by Xhaka as he tried to clear. It fell straight to Luke Stojkovic on the edge of the box who took a touch off of his chest and drove it, on the volley, into the bottom corner.

Zagreb had the chance to extend their lead moments later. Mislav Orsic was able to wrong foot both Kevin Danso and Robin Roefs. However, his shot was cleared by the retreating Thomas Meunier on the goal line.

The Black Cats almost earned themselves a freak equaliser five minutes later. Meunier’s mistimed cross beat everyone in the box before hitting the woodwork and bouncing into the arms of Kotarski, keeping the visitors in front.

And through Orena Blend, Zagreb’s lead soon doubled after he was able to chip the ball past Roefs. The goal came from a moment of magic from left winger, Mislav Orsic, who beat Meunier with a great first touch while cutting inside creating the space for the opportunity.

HT

After a quadruple substitution at half time, Sunderland thought they had earned one back inside a minute of the game restarting. A whipped freekick found Wilson Isidor a yard from goal but he made his run too early and was given offside after a lengthy VAR check.

In the first 15 minutes of the second half, Sunderland were massively on top as they tried to get themselves back into the game. They were only prevented from doing so by a brilliant block from Sergi Dominguez.

They also came close with Reinildo. His header was saved by Kotarski from a freekick but it fell straight to Danso, his unorthodox strike however went narrowly over, skimming the bar on its way past the goal.

With just over 20 minutes still to play, Brian Brobbey had the chance to open Sunderland’s account on the night, a whipped cross found him unmarked but his touch allowed for Kotarski to close him down and smother the chance.

FT Sunderland 0 Dinamo Zagreb 2

Sunderland’s next match is against Chelsea on Sunday in the Premier League. In the Europa League they play Jagiellonia Bialystok on the 26th November, Dinamo Zagreb play Leverkusen.