Sunderland 1 Leeds United 0

I was surprised to see as many empty seats for tonight’s match in the impressively named Stadium of Light; the crowd of 40,000 was well below the near 48,000 full house I expected. It is very close to Xmas though and people are feeling the pinch, particularly in the North, with the difficult cost of living crisis. Sunderland were expected to be in buoyant mood after there win over WBA on Saturday and tonight was a big test for their stand-in manager. 

DJ Ed duly took his place at left back to replace the injured Sam Byram, who has had a brilliant season and will now be out until the New Year. These are big boots to fill, Leeds having finally solved the ongoing left-back problem and it remains to be seen if right-back Spence can make the transition quite as proficiently as Sam has. Leeds had an early free kick and having had no success for as long as I can remember with shots from distance, Cree came closest to scoring this season from a dead ball situation in only the first minute, bringing a good save from the ‘keeper. 

Leeds toiled in the first half, unable to penetrate the Sunderland rearguard and it was the home side that created the chances and were the better side as the first half progressed. They were denied a certain goal when Struijk managed to get a foot in to block what looked like the opener from only a couple of yards out and then Mes made a world-class wonder save, stretching himself in mid-air to claw out a certain goal. The attacking player turned to celebrate the goal, with his arm raised, as his header from a corner looked unstoppable and was brilliantly saved. 

Sunderland were ahead  in the first half on points, definitely the better side, and were full of running, working really hard and defending stoutly, stifling Leeds who had plenty of possession. I thought Farke would make changes at half time to enable Leeds to up their game after what I thought was an unimpressive first half from the lads and I thought Spence struggled a bit at left back and was disappointing. I hoped that he would switch to his natural right back position as Archie Gray was having a torrid time against Jack Clarke on the left wing who was causing all sorts of problems and was a big threat.  

As the second half got underway Spence improved immediately and started pushing forward more, and that gave Leeds some momentum but Sunderland were really doing well in snuffing out any threat that Leeds had before they could get anywhere near their penalty area. Dan James had a quiet time of it, not able to see much of the ball and Rutter was mostly ineffective. Summerville looked to be the only threat and when he did finally get his chance, as he burst through with the ball from the halfway line, he was clearly pulled back by the chasing Jack Clarke, who was losing the race, but all credit to Cree, he stayed on his feet and created himself a great chance but his terrible shot from the edge of the box was straight at the goalie and easily saved. If Summerville had gone down when pulled back it would have been a red card offence as he was the last man standing but would the ref have had the bottle to show a red card in front of the home fans? I have my doubts. 

With 20 minutes left this would have been the turning point in the game with Leeds starting to finally get a foothold. As Farke said afterwards, Sunderland defended with their lives and it was very difficult for Leeds to create anything as their opponents parked the bus so well. Although Leeds had over 70% possession Sunderland were still the better side throughout, and just as I thought both sides might settle for bagels up popped the brilliant Jobe Bellingham to bravely head in  from close range in the 79th minute. It was Archie’s fault, playing him onside instead of stepping out with his back line. At that point it looked game-over for Leeds. 

Gnonto had made a big difference replacing James on the right wing and Jadon Anthony was looking an improvement as Leeds rallied and moved the ball about better and quicker once they were behind. I was hoping and expecting one chance and it did finally come in the 89th minute when Piroe did really well to get a shot in, but with so many defenders back his excellent toe-poked effort was cleared off the line. 

Leeds deserved to lose tonight against the better team. There can be no complaints. There was very little sparkle and Leeds were unable to create chances. Jermaine Beckford and Kevin Philips were excellent in their summary on Sky; Beckford always is a joy to listen to but Philips was surprisingly very good and got it spot on. The great author and I were disappointed of course but this was no surprise defeat. A difficult match was expected and as one of my friends quite rightly said, “you can’t win ‘em all”. My wife said “Leeds are a waste of space…one step forward and two steps back”. This cynical comment is after 50 years as a Leeds United widow, it always goes wrong, it’s always ‘Leeds,That’ and I corrected her…it is two steps forward and one step back. We now have two home games to make up for this defeat; Coventry on Saturday and then Ipswich, who are now 10 points ahead and top ot’ league after yet another win. Farke said he is not interested in the table until there are a few games left but I constantly look at it and worry. 

Tired legs need resting and Gnonto and Anthony might get their chance on Saturday. Maybe Archie and Piroe need benching and is it time for Ayling to have game? Leeds have responded well this season after a defeat and I am looking forward very much to them doing just that.

By David Dean