Jack to the rescue as Cats draw – again
JACK Baldwin came to the rescue as Sunderland salvaged a point against Blackpool, on a night when £4m man Will Grigg fluffed his lines.
The Black Cats trailed to Armand Gnanduillet’s first-half goal but just after the hour Grigg should have marked his home debut with a goal, only to miss an open goal from 12 yards out after rounding the keeper.
Baldwin spared Grigg’s blushes when he headed home from a corner 15 minutes from time, preserving Sunderland’s unbeaten home record and their run of scoring in every league game this season.
Sunderland were much the better side in the second half and created more than enough chances to take all three points, but yet again they could not find a second goal.
The draw – Sunderland’s sixth in eight league games, all by the same scoreline – means they remain fourth in the table, and are now 10 points behind leaders Luton Town with two games in hand, and four points behind second-placed Barnsley with one game in hand of the Tykes.
Jack Ross made three changes to the side that started the weekend 1-1 draw at Oxford United.
Luke O’Nien returned to the side in place of Adam Matthews at right-back, while Lynden Gooch replaced Max Power in midfield, and Duncan Watmore came in for on-loan Celtic wideman Lewis Morgan.
Sunderland made a positive start, with Grant Leadbitter forcing Mark Howard into an early save.
Blackpool have one of the best defences in League One but the Black Cats caused them problems, with Watmore particularly lively, albeit without fashioning clear-cut chances although Jimmy Dunne sent a low shot just wide of the target from outside the box.
The visitors began to get a foothold in the game and from a corner on the half-hour, Jon McLaughlin had to react quickly to claw a header from Harry Pritchard away to safety.
Immediately, Sunderland broke upfield through Watmore who played the ball infield to Grigg in space inside the area, but his first touch was poor and when he got a shot away it was stopped by Howard.
Blackpool made Sunderland pay just a minute later when Gnanduillet’s left-foot shot from outside the box beat McLaughlin and found the bottom lefthand corner.
Five minutes later, Aiden McGeady clipped the outside of the left-hand post with a freekick.
But Ben Heneghan should have put his side 2-0 up when he was presented with a free header from a corner, only to miss the target from six yards out.
Sunderland felt they should have had a penalty right at the end of the half when Luke O’Nien went down under a challenge from Evans but referee Carl Boyeson was not interested.
And Boyeson was similarly unmoved early in the second half when Evans appeared to be clipped by Gooch inside the penalty area.
Gnanduillet sent a shot into the sidenetting after drifting into the area all too easily.
But Sunderland pushed hard for an equaliser, with Watmore firing a shot low across the face of goal and just wide.
Watmore also teed up sub Charlie Wyke six yards out, but his shot on the turn was blocked.
And then came Grigg’s horrific miss on 64 minutes, as Jack Baldwin’s long ball released him behind the Blackpool defence, the striker nudged the ball past the onrushing Howard, but he inexplicably put his shot into the side-netting as the crowd prepared to celebrate his first goal.
Soon after that, Wyke saw a volley saved after good work from O’Nien on the right.
Sunderland’s pressure eventually told in the 75th minute when Baldwin got above his marker inside the six-yard area to power a header home from a pinpoint Leadbitter corner.
Sunderland poured forward in search of a winner but they could not find that all-important second goal, and once again had to settle for a draw.