Sunderland finished their USA tour with three wins from three (and five wins from five across all of pre-season) as they defeated USL League One side North Carolina FC 4-2 at the WakeMed Soccer Park.
Goals from Jay Matete, Danny Batth, Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke gave Sunderland a massive four goal lead going into half-time.
North Carolina would manage to keep the score line respectable however, as goals from Rafael Mentzingen and Louis Perez in the second half meant it finished 4-2.
The first chance of the game fell to Matete after he was threaded through by Chris Rigg - he fired the ball into the right hand corner of the net to give Sunderland a one goal lead after five minutes.
Rigg later put the ball in the net but was ruled out for offside, and Jewison Bennette had a shot blocked as Sunderland ramped up the pressure for a second goal.
That goal would come shortly after as Rigg won a corner. It was launched into the box by Patrick Roberts and Batth guided it via a header into the left side of the goal. 2-0 to Sunderland after 14 minutes.
Matete lost the ball and Batth performed a tackle in the box to prevent a shot and Patterson collected a gentle goal-bound header. Matete then went down for treatment and was subbed off and replaced by Ellis Taylor after 27 minutes.
Sunderland’s third came in the 44th minute. Jack Clarke sprinted down the left side and passed it to Roberts who, from outside the box, drove it low into the left corner.
Clarke almost made it four shortly after. He took it around the keeper but a last-ditch tackle prevented him from firing it into an open goal.
A Jobe Bellingham sliding tackle in his own half sparked an attack for Sunderland. Roberts exploited a massive gap in North Carolina’s back line and made a pass through to Clarke. He took his goal well in first half injury time from the right of the box.
Immediately after the restart for the second half, Jenson Seelt (who had sustained an injury in the first half) was replaced by Joe Anderson. An unfortunate start to life at Sunderland for Seelt.
A thunderous shot from just inside the left hand corner of the penalty area reduced the deficit for North Carolina to three goals after 52 minutes. A chipped pass into Mentzingen set him off on a run just into the inside of the box, he unleashed the ball and it struck the inside of the right post and bounced in.
Rigg lost the ball inside the Sunderland half and this would be the start of the second goal for North Carolina. Perez dribbled the ball into the box and went past two Sunderland defenders on the right side of the box. The ball hit the inside of the left post on its way in after 59 minutes.
It was almost three shortly after, a ball sent across the box was fired well-over by a North Carolina FC attacker.
Some good hold-up play by Ellis Taylor towards the corner flag on the right side led to the ball being laid off to Rigg by him, but the shot was saved. The final action of the game was Bennette being prevented a shot by a tackle.
Final score: North Carolina FC 2-4 Sunderland AFC
Sunderland XI: Patterson, Johnson, Batth, Seelt, Gooch, Matete, Bellingham, Roberts, Rigg, Clarke, Bennette
