PLAYER RATINGS V STOKE CITY

Sunderland came back from a goal down at the Stadium of Light to claim maximum points from a match for the first time in over a month. Tommy Watson netted both of the goals, his first two for the club.

ANTHONY PATTERSON: 7/10

Two saves from him today, the first of which temporarily kept Lewis Koumas from opening the scoring. It’s a bit harsh to blame him for the eventual goal, even if he could have done slightly better because Alese really should have cleared it. I don’t think it’s worth commenting on his distribution because the wind blew the ball all over the place. Could have given him higher but he didn’t have enough to do throughout the 90 minutes.

TRAI HUME: 8/10

Solid from him defensively and an asset going forward, Hume very nearly scored twice and didn’t allow defenders to get past him very often.

LUKE O’NIEN: 8.5/10

It looked like he was carrying a knock in the second half but still was great. He didn’t lose a single duel today and his tackling was good. Some of his passing could have been better though.

DAN BALLARD: 7.5/10

His positioning looked a tad suspect at times but he wasn’t at fault for the goal and we didn’t concede after the first one so he did do his job mostly successfully. Gave the ball away the odd time but no harm done. Lots of clearances.

AJI ALESE: 7/10

Alese was the cause of the goal, so maybe a seven is generous, he positioned himself way too far forward. The rest of the match he was generally solid, aside from a bit of dodginess intermittently. Once again though, did his job well enough to stop us conceding another.

DAN NEIL: 7.5/10

I thought he did well today. There was one cross he attempted that he should have directed towards our players but sent it too near the goal, he’s not a winger though so I’ll let him off. Passing was good and I can’t think of any major errors from him.

JOBE BELLINGHAM: 8/10

Assisted the first goal and had a few chances himself, he was also good at holding the ball up. One notable moment was when he kept a nice dribble going for a few seconds to relieve pressure just after we had scored our second.

PATRICK ROBERTS: 7.5/10

Frustrating at times, however, he got himself a goal contribution by assisting the winner and his shooting looked to be more accurate than it has been this season. Criticisms include not getting back to defend quick enough and struggling to put a foot in.

CHRIS RIGG: 8.5/10

Created the joint-most chances and also drew the most fouls, almost scored a few times as well. Two shots on target out of three isn't a bad record.

TOMMY WATSON: 9.5/10

Two well taken goals (especially the second), the most chances created alongside Rigg and could have had a hattrick on a different day but was denied by the woodwork. Their defenders struggled to keep up with his pace, most obviously in the second half and he worked well alongside Alese. There are probably negatives to mention but it would be pedantic to note them down here. A deserved Man of the Match display from the 18-year-old.

WILSON ISIDOR: 7/10

Missed a fantastic chance with five minutes left of the first half. He kept working hard enough to get himself into positions to get shots away, more than he has done in recent games so that deserves credit. Unfortunately, his shots were relatively easy saves and his free kick, whilst powerful, wasn’t directed well enough. I think he could have scored on another, slightly more fortunate, day.

SUBS:

DENNIS CIRKIN: 7/10

Made a big clearance late on and played his part in the final minutes to keep us ahead.

ELIEZER MAYENDA: 7/10

Looked very lively with his limited minutes and nearly gave us the lead himself.

LEO HJELDE: N/A

Can’t rate him because he wasn’t on the pitch for very long and made only one touch, granted that was an interception.