David Moyes was unable to hide his disappointment following Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat to Stoke City, admitting defensive errors cost the Black Cats at the Bet365 Stadium.
Joe Allen’s header sent the Potters into an early lead in Staffordshire and they never looked back, with the former Liverpool midfielder rifling home his second on the stroke of half-time.
Moyes’ side rallied with the red and white army refusing to be silenced, but they couldn’t find a route back into the game and suffered their sixth defeat in eight Premier League games.
Speaking post-match, the Sunderland boss was honest in his post-match assessment.
“I’m disappointed that we’ve left with nothing from the game. I didn’t think we played as badly as the half-time score suggested.
“There were some spells of good play and I told the players that at half time, but we made mistakes for their first goal and our defending was poor.
“After that we hung in and we kept at it, but again further mistakes led to their second,” he continued.
“Jordan [Pickford] made a great save from the corner and then they had a shot from the edge of the box and scored – we should have done better.
“I’d hoped to go in at half time at 1-0 and then come back out and build on the positive spells we had been having.
“We did better in the second half – we didn’t concede any goals and Jermain [Defoe] almost scored when he hit the post – there was some good stuff, but we just didn’t take our opportunities.”
Moyes also hailed the supporters who sang his name and backed the Black Cats from the first whistle to the last.
“The fans were brilliant today; you could hear them throughout the game.
“As long as they’re a part of this club it’ll always be great.”