Sheffield United produced a resolute display to frustrated Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
Clayton Donaldson scored twice as the Blades defeated Simon Grayson’s side while Jack Rodwell halved the deficit in stoppage time at the end of the match.
Before we turn our attentions to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, Sam Lightle takes a look at the lads’ latest display.
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Simon Grayson spoke before kick-off about the need for a complete performance. Pleasing starts against Leeds United and Barnsley saw the lads carve out numerous goalscoring chances before, ultimately, a sucker punch was dealt. Saturday, proved no different. As you can see by the graph below Sunderland made a bright start to proceedings on Wearside, dominating possession in the middle of the park and inside United’s final third. However, chances were at a premium for the Black Cats as Chris Wilder’s side provided a stern test and made themselves difficult to break down. Donaldson, then, delivered a big blow on 20 minutes when he found the back of the net, with the help of the inside of the post.
Sunderland made a bright start to proceedings on Wearside
WILL-ING MOVER
Jonny Williams was one of three players who made his Sunderland debut on Saturday. The on-loan Crystal Palace playmaker completed 90 minutes and showed glimpses of what he is capable of. Neat touches, precision play in tight areas and jinxing runs were a highlight of Williams’ game against the Blades, but as the graph below shows a lot of his touches were in the middle of the park. Williams is an energetic player who can provide us with so much enthusiasm across the pitch, however, to get the best out of him he probably needs to see more of the ball in and around the final third to free up Lewis Grabban and allow him to focus on getting in the box.
Jonny Williams' touches over 90 minutes
DOWN THE RIGHT
Another debutant who caught the eye was winger Callum McManaman who was introduced with half an hour to play. McManaman made an instant impact provided a real direct approach to Sunderland’s play down the right flank. Every time he got on the ball his intention was simple – get forward and make something happen. The 26-year-old has a burst of pace that saw him skip past United’s left-back numerous times before he whipped in crosses that asked questions of their backline. As you can see by the graph below, it shows McMamanan provides something completely different – he is literally hugging the touchline and offering so much width. While he might lack match fitness at the minute, the more game time he has the better he is going to become.
McManaman's heat map
