Neil, Nathan and Carlos’ car park - those moments that you missed
Both sets of supporters played their part as Sunderland drew 1-1 at Ipswich Town in an entertaining League One contest on Saturday – and there were plenty of talking points after the match.
A near-capacity crowd of 29,005 (2,023 away fans) were in attendance as Lee Johnson’s side came from behind after a challenging first half.
The result means Sunderland have lost ground on the division’s top two, yet the visitors showed resilience to take a point as Nathan Broadhead’s neat finish cancelled out James Norwood’s headed opener.
Here are some of the moments you may have missed…
Carlos Edwards’ blunt first-half assessment
While Sunderland goalkeeper Thorben Hoffmann didn’t have many saves to make in the first half, few could deny Ipswich deserved their half-time lead.
At the interval, former Sunderland and Ipswich winger Carlos Edwards was invited onto the pitch to give his verdict on the opening 45 minutes.
And while the 43-year-old praised the Black Cats, describing them as a ‘great club with great support’, he was less complimentary about the current team’s performance.
“I think Sunderland are still in the car park and need to get out of gear two,” said Edwards.
To their credit, the visitors did improve significantly after the break, as they started to win more second balls while matching Ipswich’s physicality.
Dan Neil fan chants
After a below-par first half, Sunderland needed a moment of inspiration to get a foothold in the match.
That moment came from academy graduate Dan Neil, who continued his strong season by registering another assist.
The 20-year-old showed his skill and composure to nutmeg Ipswich midfielder Lee Evans before threading an inviting pass for Broadhead to finish.
In the away end, chants of ‘Dan Neil, he’s one of our own’ followed, and the midfielder continued to make himself available to try and drive his side up the pitch.
Neil has now registered seven assists in League One this season, the joint-highest along with MK Dons playmaker Scott Twine and Fleetwood’s Paddy Lane.
Nathan Broadhead’s glance
Another player in fine form is Broadhead.
The Everton loanee, 23, has now scored five goals in his last five games, a sequence which started with his excellent winner at Cambridge United.
Broadhead’s goal at Ipswich was a more composed finish, as he timed his move perfectly, latching onto Neil’s pass before slotting the ball past Town goalkeeper Christian Walton.
After the ball hit the net, Broadhead briefly turned to check the linesman’s flag hadn’t been raised.
When he had confirmation, the forward continued his run towards the away supporters before sliding on his knees.
The move was almost repeated moments later when Denver Hume’s through-ball released Broadhead again, but this time the latter had strayed fractionally offside.
Both chances showed that, while Ipswich pressed high up the pitch to try and prevent Sunderland playing out, there was space for the visitors to run in behind the host’s backline.