THEIR 100 per cent home record might have gone, but a battling draw against Aston Villa nevertheless said more about Sunderland’s ability to survive in the Premier League than either of their previous wins over West Ham and Brentford.
On a day when they could easily have gone under, the Black Cats summoned remarkable reserves of spirit, commitment and organisation to deservedly earn a point.
Villa might be a pale shadow of the side that were so impressive in each of the last two seasons under Unai Emery, but they will still be taking on Bologna in Europe next week. They had a numerical advantage for almost an hour of today’s game, with Reinildo Mandava seeing red after he kicked out at Matty Cash, and were effectively gifted an opening goal when Robin Roefs failed to keep out Cash’s long-range strike.
It would have been easy for them to crumble after falling behind midway through the second half, but instead, displaying the kind of never-say-die attitude that served them so well in the play-offs last season, they successfully redoubled their efforts in both defence and attack.
At one end, they frustrated a Villa forward line featuring England duo Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers, with Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete once again outstanding. At the other, they equalised through Wilson Isidor’s third goal of the season and threatened to cause havoc whenever they had a set-piece.
Their reward was their most impressive point of the season so far, gained through a willingness to tackle adversity head on. Whoever they are facing in the remainder of the campaign, that approach will continue to serve them well.
The strength of Sunderland’s defensive organisation has been a key factor in their successful start to the season, and it was evident again in the opening half-hour as Aston Villa struggled to unpick the Black Cats’ backline.
Mukiele and Alderete have been superb since joining the Black Cats in the summer, hence Regis Le Bris’ decision to initially keep Dan Ballard on the bench, and the pair combined to deny Watkins any time or space in the final third.
Rogers was similarly well-shackled in Villa’s ‘number ten’ role, although the England international did set up Evann Guessand for a 26th-minute strike on the turn that was well saved by Roefs.
At that stage, Sunderland looked extremely comfortable as a defensive unit, but the game changed completely shortly after the half-hour mark when they were reduced to ten men.
It was a moment of madness from Reinildo, who was fouled by a sliding Cash close to the touchline, but who chose to exact his own retribution as he fell to the floor. Reinildo kicked out with both legs as he tumbled to the turf, catching Cash in his midriff.
The Villa full-back made the most of the incident, but there was undoubtedly contact from Reinildo, who should have known better. Sam Barrott didn’t need VAR to convince him that the foul was worthy of a straight red card.
With his side down to ten men, Le Bris brought on Ballard, switched to a 5-3-1 formation and went into full-on containment mode for the second half.
In open play, Sunderland’s main focus was on containing the Villa attack. From set-pieces, however, they posed enough of a threat to suggest they could still nick all three points.
Mukiele’s long throws caused the Villa defence major problems, and after Chemsdine Talbi hooked a first-time volley wide in the 49th minute, the Black Cats went even closer two minutes later when another long delivery was hurled into the box.
Villa’s defenders made a hash of dealing with it, culminating in a panicked Cash heading the ball straight up into the air. Mukiele flicked a cross towards the edge of the six-yard box, and Alderete thumped a header against the crossbar.
A couple of second-half corners also unsettled the Villa defence, with the size and physicality of Sunderland’s side clearly evident, and for 20 minutes or so after the interval, it was the Black Cats who looked likeliest to break the deadlock.
Then, from nowhere, Villa scored. Roefs has had a fine start to his Sunderland career and had been a clear Man of the Match in the previous weekend’s goalless draw at Crystal Palace, but the Dutch youngster erred badly when Cash let fly from 30 yards.
The full-back’s strike swerved markedly towards the right, but it was still pretty much straight at Roefs, who had a decent view through a packed 18-yard box. The keeper tried to punch the ball clear, but only succeeded in helping it into the net.
It felt like a killer blow, but Sunderland responded superbly, levelling just nine minutes after falling behind.
Talbi’s shot was blocked, but Granit Xhaka kept the move alive by heading beyond the Villa backline. Isidor had anticipated the Swiss midfielder’s set-up work, and calmly stroked home a first-time half-volley.
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