Wolves 0 Sunderland 0: Championship leaders stall as 10-man visitors hold out for point

Struggling Sunderland ended the winning streak of Championship leaders Wolves despite playing the last 35 minutes with 10 men after Lee Cattermole was sent off.

Cattermole was shown the ninth red card of his career – albeit the first for four years – after picking up a second yellow just 54 seconds after the first.

The combative midfielder had to be pushed away by a team-mate after reacting angrily to his first caution for a foul on Romain Saiss and his next action was to dive into a tackle on Diogo Jota, leaving referee Jeremy Simpson little option but to dismiss him.

Sunderland, who have won only once in 17 matches, were left to finish a man short for the second week running, but where Callum McManaman’s first-half red card against Reading last week prefaced a capitulation, this one cost them nothing.

Having defended resolutely for the first hour against their free-scoring opponents, they simply redoubled their efforts to win new manager Chris Coleman a fourth point in his fourth match.

The former Wales national coach conceded that Cattermole had “lost his concentration for a moment” after the first yellow card and probably deserved the second, but was delighted with the resilience being shown by his new team, who had not achieved one clean sheet this season before he arrived but now have two in four matches.

“After last week’s sending-off when everything was going right we ended up losing 3-1 and we could have crumbled,” Coleman said. “But we didn’t.

“The timing (of the red card) was a big test. They are the best team in the league but we had a game plan to frustrate them, we dug deep and I was really pleased with the performance.”

 Marshalled superbly by experienced captain John O’Shea, Sunderland’s back five were magnificent, withstanding everything the home side could muster.

Wolves attacked relentlessly and after Cattermole’s dismissal Sunderland were rarely able to escape their defensive third, let alone venture into the opposite half.

Yet they repelled everything, headed clearance following brave block following last-ditch tackle as Wolves failed to score in a Championship match for only the third time this season and failed to win for the first time in seven matches.

Wolves nonetheless extended their lead to five points, although that could be cut to two when Cardiff travel to Reading on Monday and manager Nuno Espirito Santo warned that his team must expect more opponents to employ ultra-defensive tactics.

“The players did very well and there was only one team on the pitch looking for the three points,” he said. “But games like this will happen again and we have to find solutions.”

Match details

Wolverhampton Wanderers (3-4-3): Ruddy; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Saiss (N’Diaye 68), Neves, Douglas (Costa 75); Cavaleiro, Bonatini, Jota.
Subs: Norris (g), Batth, Price, Enobakhare, Vinagre.
Booked: Douglas.
Sunderland (5-4-1): Ruiter; Love (Galloway 80), Browning, O’Shea, Wilson, Matthews; Gooch (Embleton 90), Cattermole, Gibson, Honeyman; Grabban (Vaughan 84).
Subs: Steele (g), McGeady, Asoro, Beadling. Sent off Cattermole.
Booked: Wilson, Cattermole, Honeyman, Browning.
Ref: J Simpson (Lancashire).