BRISTOL RATINGS

After going down to ten men within the first few minutes, Sunderland played well to take the lead through some individual Eliezer Mayenda brilliance. Unfortunately a long range strike and a spot of poor defending in the second half gave the hosts all three points.

ANTHONY PATTERSON: 7/10

Made four saves, a couple of which were decent and he generally commanded his box really well. His distribution was lacking today but you aren’t going to find your players very often when the other team have a man advantage. Couldn’t do anything about the first goal and second goal wasn’t his fault.

TRAI HUME: 4/10

If a player plays under 10 minutes I don’t usually give a rating unless they score or get sent off. Negatively, the latter of those two things have happened. In the stands, a few people thought it was harsh but he did make contact with the last man, and with no VAR, that gives the ref a decision to make.

CHRIS MEPHAM: 7/10

I only noticed one bit of play where he got too easily skipped past. Made a few sliding challenges to put the ball out of play and was solid throughout.

LUKE O’NIEN: 5/10

There’s definitely an argument that he’s more at fault for the red card than Hume was, with him being outfought for the ball beforehand. After that he played mostly well.

LEO HJELDE: 6.5/10

Defensively, he did well enough. Struggled with pace at times, I don’t think he’s a modern day fullback who’s going to get up the pitch much to be honest. His long balls didn’t find anyone very often, although my earlier comments on Patterson can explain at least some of these. Blocked an attempt off the line too which kept us in it at the time.

DAN NEIL: 8/10

A frustrating one for him I’m sure, started brightly and looked untouchable. The sending off changed what he had to do though, and he wasn’t able to play as expressively as he would have been hoping. Saying that, he did well even after this.

CHRIS RIGG: 7.5/10

Reacted well to Hume’s dismissal, he was an asset defensively. Encouraging because with him being so young, his game has lacked some of the tenacity of more seasoned pros.

PATRICK ROBERTS: 6.5/10

Couldn’t quite get a goal contribution and was unfortunate not to have more attacking opportunities which would have almost certainly come had it have been an even affair. Had a good chance after being set up by Mayenda but he couldn't make it count.

ENZO LE FEE: 7.5/10

Played us into bother once but brilliant other than that. It’s no coincidence we struggled more after he he was subbed off.

TOMMY WATSON: 3/10

Lacked any sort of fight today, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out why. There was one instance where he could have been played through on goal and wasn’t though.

ELIEZER MAYENDA: 8/10

He scored an outstanding goal and I thought he battled well for possession and came away with it in some tricky situations. Looked exhausted prior to being substituted.

SUBS:

JOBE BELLINGHAM: 5.5/10

Played a part in the winner for them and was clearly just getting back to fitness.

SALIS ABDUL SAMED: 6.5/10

Samed dribbled forward nicely right at the death which created a chance. Lost it in a dangerous area but thankfully it wasn't what cost us.

WILSON ISIDOR: 6/10

Didn’t have much to work with but had a chance with a header in the final seconds. Struggled to hold it up as well as Mayenda in the first half.

ALAN BROWNE: 6/10

Got himself in a good position to get a chance away from a Joe Anderson cross but took a heavy touch and squandered it.

JOE ANDERSON: N/A

It’s always tough to come on as a defender when your team has a man disadvantage. As mentioned, put in a good cross late on that could have rescued a point. No rating because he came on after the 80th minute but nice to see him get a chance in the first team.