HAS an outcome ever felt more inevitable than Sunderland and West Brom’s Stadium of Light stalemate on Tuesday night?
There was the Black Cats, who had drawn four games on the bounce, and the Baggies who had shared the spoils in seven of their last eight outings. It should have come as a surprise to nobody, then, that a winner would not emerge when the sides met.
But only one team looked like they wanted three points rather than one. Sunderland were the side probing and pushing, having 18 shots compared to the visitors’ two. But Albion keeper Alex Palmer only had one save to make, though Wilson Isidor was denied what would have been a winner when a second half goal was ruled out. The decision was right but it was closest of calls.
How harsh it would have been on Sunderland had West Brom managed to steal a win they wouldn’t have deserved when they broke late on, with Lewis Dobbin missing a glorious opportunity to steal the points.
In isolation, a draw against West Brom isn’t a bad result at all. The frustration for Sunderland comes with the fact it’s now five without a win. Flip that, however, and the Black Cats are 10 unbeaten. That late scare aside, they never looked like losing to West Brom, who have now drawn nine of their 17 games. The Baggies made this a hard watch but that won’t have bothered boss Carlos Corberan.
It did, however, result in a frustrating night for returning striker Josh Maja, who spurned one early opportunity and then hardly got a kick before his late withdrawal.
Maja was booed before kick-off and another familiar face went the right way about getting the same treatment when Callum Styles wiped out Chris Rigg on the edge of the box. Bobby Madley somehow decided that wasn’t a free-kick but awarded Sunderland a set-piece moments later when the ball hit Maja’s hand on the edge of his own box.
Patrick Roberts’ effort was disappointing but the returning winger was bright, linking up well with Rigg who created an early chance for Wilson Isidor.
Jobe Bellingham was back in the midfield and Trai Hume returned to the defence, though the Northern Ireland international started on the left rather than the right, with Luke O’Nien continuing at full-back.
Maja should have marked his Stadium of Light return with an early goal but to the relief of his former employers was off balance when he met Tom Fellows’ cut-back and fired wide.
That was as close as West Brom came in the early stages, though Sunderland too struggled to create any clear cut chances. Isidor’s deflected effort was the game’s only shot on target in a first half that was flat and desperately needed a spark.
Roberts looked most likely to make something happen for Sunderland but got his angles wrong and fired high and wide after cutting in from the right 10 minutes before the break. Watson then had a go, darting into the box after a short Sunderland corner and fizzing in a tempting low cross that Kyle Bartley hacked clear from underneath his own crossbar. Watson was positive but his decision making let him down on a couple of occasions. That said, the teenager and his fellow forwards faced an unenviable task breaking down a defence that was more a back nine than four out of possession.
The Baggies headed for Wearside with the third best defensive record in the division and it wasn’t difficult to see why. Sunderland probed early in the second half but their best opening came when a Rigg cross deflected and looped to the back post but bounced beyond the waiting Watson.
The closest of offside calls then denied Sunderland an opener just before the hour mark. It was a fine move with Bellingham, Roberts and Rigg all involved before O’Nien’s cross was turned in by Isidor, who wasn’t much more than a toenail ahead of the last defender.
Sunderland were the only team trying to win it but nothing summed up their challenge and frustration more than the sight of Bellingham being crowded out inside the West Brom box by four yellow shirts. Eliezer Mayenda and Aji Alese were introduced and both were involved in the move that led to a Rigg shot being superbly blocked by Albion captain Alex Mowatt.
And Sunderland would come closer still. Hume, shifted back to the right after the introduction of Alese, teed up Roberts to poke agonisingly wide.
West Brom went closest in the final stages but Dobbin fluffed his lines.
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