Sunderland’s front men simply have to start finding the net
SUNDERLAND face Leeds United this evening hoping to make it back-to-back Championship wins away from home.
To do that, having beaten Cardiff City 2-0 last time on their travels, they will have to score – and that is something that continues to be a huge problem for Mike Dodds and his players.
They spurned so many chances on Saturday against Bristol City in their second successive 0-0 draw at home.
They didn’t even have to work for a few of them as City seemed determined to pass them the ball when playing out from the back.
It always seems to be worse when a striker misfires and Adil Aouchihe provided a good example when he somehow missed the target from inside the box with nobody in front of him. He snatched at the opportunity, not a good sign.
Jack Clarke might have done better with a couple but is getting up to speed after injury and Jobe Bellingham once took the wrong option when he cut back inside instead of shooting when Clarke set him up in the second half.
But Bellingham did well on other occasions when teeing up team-mates and it seemed only a matter of time before Sunderland did find the net, only for that to never materialise.
Bradley Dack, another trying to gain full match fitness, should not have missed when he somehow diverted on to the cross bar with a flying header from six yards late on.
There were good saves, too, so it was not all duff finishing.
It was still interesting that Dodds should come out afterwards and announce that his team “should have been out of sight by half time”.
There’s plenty of reasons why that is a nonsense statement in my view.
Sunderland can only once this season claim to have been ‘out of sight’ at half time, when they beat Southampton 5-0 and were three ahead at the break.
In any case, goals change games. If one of the chances had gone in on Saturday, the mentality of both sides can alter. Also, physically speaking, the opportunities to score that follow would not have happened in the same way had a goal gone in. Not least because the game restarts from a kickoff.
But apart from all of that, the Black Cats have scored just seven goals in their last 10 matches. In five of those games they have failed to find the net.
So to say they should have been out of sight is ridiculous in many ways because the team finds it so difficult to score.
We can’t even say they have tightened up at the back because of the calamitous defending in the 5-1 home defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
But three clean sheets in the last four outings is progress.
They will need to be equally frugal at the back tonight against Leeds if they are to have any chance of winning.