The bad start to the season continues and Sunderland remain pointless after losing 2-1 at Deepdale.
Tony Mowbray’s side went into this game having lost the last two. Despite suggesting that the club are looking to bring in a new striker, Sunderland actually went into this game striker-less, with new(ish) signing Bradley Dack started up front instead of young Hemir.
Just like us, Preston were also knocked out of the Carabao Cup by League Two opposition. Salford City beat them on penalties. So, they were also looking to bounce back from defeat. Will Keane’s 86th minute equaliser was enough to rescue them a point at Ashton Gate in their first Championship match.
Starting 11: Anthony Patterson, Dennis Cirkin, Dan Ballard, Luke O’Nien (C), Trai Hume, Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah, Jobe, Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts, Bradley Dack
It was strange that Mowbray dropped Hemir to the bench - he is our only natural striker. However, I was interested to see how Dack got on, even if he was playing out of position.
It wasn’t that long ago since we were celebrating a victory at Deepdale. Amad’s excellence and Millwall’s collapse made for a very dramatic afternoon that saw Sunderland confirm a play-off spot. Good times, eh?
The Lads kicked things off, and like most Championship games there wasn’t really any tempo in the opening stages of the game. A lot of back and forth hoof balls and misplaced passes. Danny Collins described the game as scrappy and I agreed with him.
As the game settled, it was clear to see that we were trying to pass our way through Preston, meanwhile they were more focused on going long, which made for an intriguing clash of styles.
Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts were looking lively and they were giving the Preston defenders something to think about. We looked like the more dangerous side in the final third.
Jobe caught Preston in possession, and we put together a really good counter attack that ended with Pierre Ekwah having his shot saved.
But out of nowhere we conceded a deflected goal, identical to Nathan Broadhead's last week. Mads Frökjaer-Jensen’s strike deflected off of Will Keane and rolled into the net, completely against the run of play.
After the goal, the Lads responded well and Clarke won a penalty. Kian Best tugged him down, so it was a stone waller. Clarke stepped up and slotted it in the bottom right corner to equalise.
We were the better side for the remainder of the first half and were able to put some balls into the box. If only we had a forward on the pitch to latch on to them. This is probably the reason why we took our fair share of short corners.
Preston kicked off the second half and despite winning a corner in the early stages of the half, it was Sunderland who took control. Luke O’Nien was pressing well and we were getting forward. We just lacked that final killer pass.
However, when Preston got forward we were playing ourselves into trouble and struggling to clear the ball. The home side won a few more set pieces, but nothing really came of them.
Despite our possession, we were then caught out by a clinical counter attack. Frökjaer-Jensen made it 2-1 and it was really frustrating to watch. We keep playing ourselves into trouble and giving away silly goals.
After the second Mowbray made two changes, Dack and Jobe came off for Alex Pritchard and Hemir. We began to mount some pressure on Preston and Roberts forced Freddie Woodman into making a good save.
Ekwah was then subbed off for Abdoullah Ba, who squandered a good opportunity soon after coming on. The Lads were creating chances, but just couldn’t put them away.
We turned the pressure up in the dying minutes, but disappointingly Preston were able to see the game out and hand us our second league defeat of the season. Frustrating because Preston weren’t anything special, we just gave away silly goals and failed to convert our chances. The bad start continues and the atmosphere around the club feels deflated.
Full time: Preston North End 2-1 Sunderland AFC
ALS Man of the Match – Patrick Roberts. He was by far and away our most dangerous player. He created chances, caused Preston problems, and was unlucky not to score.
