Two Up, Two Down: What were the positives & negatives from Sunderland's performance at Leeds?

Source: Roker Report

I bet Leeds fans fucking hate us. Given Leicester lost tonight, a win over Sunderland was absolutely essential... and they ballsed it up. I wasn't impressed with them at all; I guess the nerves are getting to them. Still, even with very little to play for it was nice to play our part in the title race.

I thought Timothee Pembele had a decent game considering it's his first proper start since signing last summer. He put one seriously excellent cross into the box that was just a little bit too high for Jack Clarke, and I can't help but think what a proper centre forward would do with that level of service. I'm glad he played cos it was a sign that they trust him and that he may still have a future at the club.

I know, it's not like we had loads, but I thought in the first half we had a couple of good chances that we could and should have taken. I don't think there would have been many complaints if it was Sunderland going into the half time break ahead - fine margins I guess.

It probably sounds relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things but I was really annoyed with Dan Ballard for getting himself booked tonight. It was completely needless and he'd only just given away another similar foul - he's really got to sharpen up that side of his game in the future. He otherwise played really well, but his poor discipline must improve.

After collapsing against Blackburn Rovers, the team showed great determination to achieve two shutouts in a row, and Anthony Patterson had almost nothing to do on Tuesday, despite being up against a very strong opponent.

Although some aspects still need improvement, I can't fault the effort the Lads have put in since Easter Monday, and I thought we throughly deserved the draw against Leeds United.

Although I was shocked by a couple of the inclusions, Mike Dodds sent out an organised side that grew into the match and gave a very professional away performance, particularly when out of possession.

The substitutes he made were also well timed- even the late introduction of Hemir to run the clock down- and his reward was an encouraging point.

Although otherwise sound at the back, I think on another day we could've given away a couple of penalties for handball.

Leeds were looking for decisions all the time and the referee seemed pretty strong, but it was heart-in-mouth stuff, with a couple of incidents that may have seen the night turn sour.

Visiting a team chasing who are automatic promotion and giving them a tough time is great, but it does remind me that Sunderland should've done so much better since the turn of the year.

Injuries have been a factor- and on that subject, I was impressed by the shift Jack Clarke put in so soon after returning- but when we get anywhere near our best in these final fixtures, it'll merely confirm what a wasted season 2023/2024 has been in the wider scheme of things.

What a fighting performance from our squad.

Against a Leeds team who've been tearing it up at Elland Road and were looking to bounce back from a rare defeat last Saturday, we restricted them to one shot on target.

I lost count of the number of corners we had to defend, and one crazy Luke O'Nien moment aside, we defended these extremely well given the quality they were being delivered with.

From front to back, every one of the outfield players put in a good shift and deserves credit for this.

Give the lad his due, as we've hardly seen him this season but he stepped in to the right wing back position to good effect.

We had a good look at his pace going forward and a searing burst tracking back to deny a Leeds forward a clear run in on goal.

We need to see a bit more of this lad before the season finishes.

Our captain had a very good game tonight leading by example with a whole hearted effort. However, if the referee had not been temporarily struck blind, another "crazy Luke moment" might have undone a massive team effort. He was lucky a penalty was not given and he needs to cut out these moments from his game!

As the pressure was mounting in the last quarter, I was not geeting the right-hand side's need to try out the tika taka in our own half, we lost the ball a number of times attempting our short pass game in tight areas of the field. Maybe just get this tool out in the oppositions half!

Special mention to our travelling fans. You were brilliant.