Another unbeaten run in League One came to an end yesterday, as Sunderland went down 3-1 at home to Portsmouth.
On a disappointing afternoon for the Black Cats, they fell behind inside the first ten minutes. Marcus Harness was fed in by Michael Jacobs, and he slotted an effort inside Lee Burge’s right-hand post.
The home side briefly rallied, Charlie Wyke converting from close range after excellent work down the attacking left from Denver Hume. Sadly, before the half-hour mark had passed, they were behind again, Harness the creator this time for John Marquis to finish easily.
The afternoon went from bad to worse for Phil Parkinson’s side, who had Luke O’Nien sent off for a second yellow after bringing down Ryan Williams. O’Nien played the game at centre half and look uncomfortable, something doubtless exasperated by MArquis converting the penalty to kill the tie.
The result sees Sunderland slip down to sixth, five points behind leaders Lincoln City with a game in hand. Portsmouth jump up to fifth, level on points with the Black Cats but having played a game more.
Despite it being their first defeat of the season, Sunderland fans have found the result hard to take. Such is the mood in the north-east, that it takes very little for fans to turn on the manager when they are perceived to have under-achieved (see also, Ipswich Town), and they made their feelings very clear on social media after the game.
However, after a strong start to the season, there is still some goodwill in the tank for Parkinson, who will want a strong response away at Rochdale on Tuesday night.
Have you tried our latest Sunderland sticker quiz?
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I said it before this match no pace, no flare give the youngsters a chance. We'll win nothing with an aged frontline and the midfield we currently have.
— Ronald Little (@RonaldL96628957) October 24, 2020
Poor perorance today but hopefully just a little bump in the road. Back at it Tuesday and go for a decent away win.
Hume, Maguire dropped O’Brien, McFadzean and Sanderson in.
— Brad (@braddfearnleyy) October 24, 2020
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Change something!! We've not scored more than one goal a game since Oxford. Sort your lives out, you're meant to be professionals
— Wim Duncker 🇳🇿 (@WimDuncker) October 24, 2020
Terrible performance today we gifted them all 3 goals..played well for 10 minutes in the 2nd half.. Massive improvement by team and management before Rochdale.. Abysmal😠😠
— Colin Roberts (@mackem49000) October 24, 2020
