Sunderland showcase crucial quality as Roberts salvages point against Bristol City

WHATEVER else they might lack, this Sunderland side certainly has plenty of spirit. Just when it looked like they had run of ideas as they trailed Bristol City at the Stadium of Light, Patrick Roberts popped up in the 93rd minute to earn them a point.

Roberts rifled home an equaliser after some fine approach play from his fellow substitute, Adil Aouchiche, to ensure the Black Cats did not go back to square one four days after impressively brushing aside Stoke City.

True, some of the attacking failings that have become increasingly apparent in the last month or so were evident again as they struggled to break down a well-organised Bristol City defence who were given something to hold on to when Luke McNally opened the scoring just after the hour mark.

Their willingness to keep going was eventually rewarded though, with Roberts firing home after he had come off the bench to replace Tommy Watson in the first half.

Watson might have been the hero of Sunderland’s weekend win over Stoke, scoring both of his side’s goals, but the winger was literally brought back down to earth with a bump midway through the first half of last night’s game.

Shaping to shoot after Chris Rigg rolled the ball into his path, Watson was felled by a superb last-ditch tackle from Zak Vyner. The challenge was fierce, but fair, and left Watson needing treatment. The teenager briefly tried to continue, but was quickly forced to admit defeat, resulting in a change that saw Patrick Roberts leave the bench and Eliezer Mayenda switch flanks to the left-hand side.

Mayenda had started brightly down the right as he made only his second start since mid-September, but the youngster didn’t look quite as comfortable on the left and while the Black Cats dominated possession for much of the evening, they struggled to carve out clear-cut opportunities.

Chances were at a premium at both ends in the first half, with Max O’Leary’s only significant involvement in the Bristol City goal seeing him parry away Wilson Isidor’s header from Aji Alese’s cross.

Anthony Patterson also made one first-half save, falling onto an early low strike from Max Bird, although the Sunderland goalkeeper might well have been tested had Chris Mepham not made a perfectly-timed sliding block on a drive from Sinclair Armstrong. As expected, Mepham was making an immediate return to the starting side to replace illness victim Luke O’Nien.

The key moment in the first half came just before the break, with referee Dean Whitestone waving away penalty appeals after Alese appeared to have been fouled as he broke towards the byline. Sunderland’s left-back went down under a challenge from Yu Hirakawa, but bizarrely ended up being the one who was penalised for handball as he fell to the ground.

Both Alese and Trai Hume were trying to get forward from their respective full-back berths, but Sunderland rarely looked penetrating a well-organised Bristol City rearguard.

Not for the first time this season, Regis Le Bris appeared reluctant to change things, and the Black Cats paid the price as they fell behind just after the hour mark.

It was a sloppy goal to concede, with Sunderland’s defenders passing up two or three decent opportunities to clear as Bristol City substitute Nakhi Wells tried to turn in the box. The ball dropped invitingly to an unmarked Luke McNally, who fired beyond Patterson into the roof of the net.

Sunderland’s attacking became increasingly frantic as they pushed for an equaliser, but Rigg’s backheel from Roberts’ cross was blocked on the edge of the six-yard box.

Anis Mehmeti wasted a good opportunity to make the game safe for the visitors when he blazed over from 20 yards, and the miss proved a crucial one as Roberts struck in stoppage time.

Aouchiche dribbled his way into the area, and from an acute angle, Roberts managed to squeeze a shot between O’Leary and the left-hand post.