Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Sunderland
Sam Lightle runs the rule over the action from Sunderland’s Premier League 2 fixture against Tottenham Hotspur.
THE WRAP
Sunderland under-23s rounded off 2017 with a Premier League 2 point at Tottenham Hotspur on Monday evening.
Max Stryjek was the busier of the two ‘keepers as he produced a string of fine stops across the 90 minutes, preserving the Black Cats’ clean sheet and in doing so helping them return to Wearside with a share of the spoils.
The result sees the Black Cats move onto 10 points, a point behind Manchester United and Chelsea in the table.
UP FOR SELECTION
Benji Kimpioka was rewarded for his impressive displays in the youth team with a start at the Lamex Stadium tonight. The Swedish starlet featured from the off, alongside Elliot Embleton and Andrew Nelson, as Elliott Dickman stuck with the back five. Stryjek also started as he clocked some valuable minutes as he continues to step up his recovery from injury. Meanwhile, Dickman named a further two under-18 regulars – Jack Diamond and Jake Hackett – on the bench.
BATTLE AT THE BOTTOM
Sunderland travelled to Tottenham Hotspur on the back of a frustrating defeat to league leaders Liverpool at the Stadium of Light just over a week ago. The Black Cats gave it as good as they had for large parts of that match, but a late collapse cost them dearly as the Reds romped to a comfortable victory. However, the challenge facing Sunderland tonight was to simply repeat the performance that saw them clinch all three points way back in August against Spurs. That night, Ethan Robson and Denver Hume struck as the Black Cats came from behind to defeat their North London counterparts.
LITTLE TO SEPARATE
Even start. There was little to choose between the sides in the opening 45, with Stryjek saving well from Shayon Harrison before Kimpioka made himself a nuisance at the other end when he drew Brandon Austin into action. Refusing to give the hosts a yard of space inside their own half, Dickman’s troops were resilient, disciplined and dogged as they calmly shuffled from left to right and back again to keep the hosts at arm’s length. Olivier Skipp was lively in the middle of the park, attempting to pull the strings from deep, but the Black Cats saw the match out to the midway interval to go in with the scores respectably level after being largely untroubled.
MUCH OF THE SAME
Spurs continued to apply pressure in the second 45 as they sort a winner, but Sunderland stuck to their tasks well, with Stryjek batting away a rare sight of goal from Harrison on 72 minutes. Shortly after Anthony Georgiou was among the action, forcing a double save from the Polish stopper as he worked a yard of space inside the left-hand channel of the area. Spurs continued to lay siege to Stryjek’s goal in the closing stages but the Black Cats showed their claws as dug deep to grind out a point in the Premier League 2 fixture.
Tottenham: Austin, Marsh, Georgiou, Skipp, C. Maghoma, Eyoma, Pritchard, Amos, Sterling (S. Shashoua, 63), Harrison, Tracey
Subs: Whiteman, Rolels, Brown, Bennetts
Sunderland: Stryjek, J Robson, Hume, Beadling, Taylor, Storey, Kimpioka, E Robson, Nelson, Embleton, Allan
Subs: Gamble, Woud, Diamond, Wright Hackett.