David Moyes was left to once again rue his side’s lack of a killer instinct as Sunderland suffered defeat at Middlesbrough.
The Black Cats made a bright start to proceedings at the Riverside, Jermain Defoe angling a volley towards Brad Guzan’s goal after a flurry of corners.
But the Lads were unable to get their noses ahead, and Boro struck against the run of play with nine minutes played to gain what proved to be a decisive advantage.
Marten de Roon waltzed his way onto a long ball and composed himself before poking past an on rushing Jordan Pickford who did his best to narrow the angle.
Moyes’ side rallied back after the interval with Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj coming off the bench, but that one golden chance never materialised and Boro held on to clinch all three Premier League points.
Speaking post-match the Scot delivered his honest verdict.
“I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a win because we needed one tonight,” he admitted.
“I have told the players that if we had played like that for the majority of games this season then we would’ve given ourselves a better chance of winning more.
“I thought tonight we passed it well and we kept it when we had it.
“We had control of the game which is something we have lacked in other games this season.
“We tried to mix it up and we went long to Victor (Anichebe) at times and we did a lot of good things but not the things that really matter.
“We didn’t score at their end and we didn’t defend as well as we could’ve done when they had their two chances,” he continued.
“Jordan (Pickford) made a good save for us but ultimately it was up to us to make chances and score goals.
“We did some good things and we got into some good areas.
“We threatened tonight but the threatening didn’t come to anything and nothing really dropped in the right positions for us.”
