28th December 2025. EPL
Right, let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. With our recent expertise in delivering long throws, it was a huge disappointment to get done by one like that. Once again, in my humble opinion, we ought to have done better to defend that moment in the game: initially, to get rid of the ball cleanly; certainly not to allow Granit Xhaka to get hold of it; and then to make sure we had Simon Adingra marked in our box.
Okay, let’s give credit to Xhaka (what an acquisition he has been!) for a superb little pass through the Leeds defence and for the way Adingra tucked it away, but we have to be more switched on for the whole game and avoid these little “moments”. Jayden Bogle was ball watching, and (Sod’s Law), Joe Rodon was hampered by the ankle injury he’d picked up a few minutes earlier. Incidentally, looking at the tackle that caused the injury, it is hard to understand why the challenge went unpunished by at least a yellow card, and it is ironic that the man who would go on to score, Adingra, made the rash tackle. Some of the ref’s decisions were baffling to say the least, but that’s not unusual. However, we need to start posting a few clean sheets, or, as well as we are performing, we are going to lose matches which we should not lose. Rant over, now the good stuff!
There wasn’t much between the two teams in the first half, that 28th-minute lapse excepted. Leeds bossed the possession, but there were few clear-cut chances for either side. Noah Okafor had a goal-bound shot ‘shouldered’ over the bar by a defender, and Brenden Aaronson, set up by the brilliant Dominic Calvert-Lewin, had a good shot that had beaten the keeper Robin Roefs but cleared off the line by Trai Hume, in for the injured Dan Ballard. Against that, we had a heart-in-mouths moment just before the break when Brian Brobbey clattered into Lucas Perri after a simple through ball again left us out of position, and then a near miss for the Black Cats when Adingra crossed, and Brobbey had got away from Pascal Struijk to head onto the top of the crossbar. Hence, it could have been far worse for Leeds at the break, as bad as it did feel at that point.
The second half was pretty much all Leeds, certainly until the inevitable nervy last few minutes when the spectre of that last-minute Ilan Meslier disaster on this patch last season started to raise its head again. Ironically, Leeds had the lesser share of the possession in the second half, and yet we used it far more effectively. Leeds amassed 11 shots to just three for the home side, and we carved out three big chances to none for them. We also won five corners but failed to capitalise on any of them.
The equaliser came within a couple of minutes of the restart, and it was a goal that had more than a passing semblance of Bielsaball about it. Every Leeds player on the pitch had a touch of the ball as Leeds went from one end to the other, culminating with a fine run and low cross from Aaronson that was expertly dispatched by the ever-alert Calvert-Lewin. DCL had another fine game all over the pitch, and maybe our chant of “England’s number one!” isn’t as far off the mark as some think! It is 65 years since a Leeds player scored in six consecutive games (John McCole in 1959/1960) and even England's Harry Kane has never scored in more than five on the spin! If DCL scores against Liverpool and Man Utd, he’ll even equal that phenomenal run of Jamie Vardy for Leicester City in 2019!
At the end of the day, any point away from home is a good point, but just as happened here last season, it feels like we ought to have returned to Yorkshire with all three. The injury to Rodon is also a potentially huge blow, and it will be interesting to see how Daniel Farke now sets up his team if the Welsh Warrior is to miss a couple of games. Will Farke trust Seb Bornauw to slot into the back five, or will he revert to using our wingers again? It will be fascinating to see which way we go, especially as the next challenge is at Anfield!
We also have to remember that this Sunderland side was missing six players now away on Afcon duty, as well as a handful of senior players out injured. In that context, I think we can say they did well to get a point off a flying Leeds United.
Five games unbeaten, but the challenges keep coming. The trip to Anfield looks tough, but other teams have found a way to beat them. The January 4th clash with Manchester United looks winnable if we can maintain our current form and if the Reds continue to be as erratic as they have been all season. Then we are back in the North East, at Newcastle; yes, challenges every week, but we look forward to the fight, and we’re playing well; everything is possible, and that seven-point gap to the bottom three will help settle the nerves.
And, don’t forget, the other teams around us face difficult games as well, and none of them is playing as well as we are! Everyone again played their part today, and it was hard to criticise anyone. It has been a feature of this little unbeaten run that all our players have been on top of their game – Ampadu and DCL were again superb, as was Anton Stach. Gabby Gudmundsson gets better every week, and Aaronson keeps coming up with crucial moments. Long may it continue.
Happy New Year, everyone!
Premier League
Sunderland 1 (Adingra 28’)
Leeds United 1 (Calvert-Lewin 47’)
Sunderland: Roefs (GK), Cirkin, Geertruida, Brobbey (Isidor 68’), Rigg (Mayenda 68’), Alderete, Mukiele, Adingra (Mundle 85’), Le Fée, Hume, Xhaka (C). Subs not used: Patterson (GK), Neil, Hjelde, H Jones, J Jones, Tutierov.
Leeds: Perri (GK), Bogle, Gudmundsson, Ampadu (C), Struijk, Rodon (Tanaka 31’), Calvert-Lewin (Gnonto 85’), Aaronson, Bijol, Stach, Okafor (Nmecha 72’). Subs not used: Darlow (GK), Piroe, Harrison, Bornauw, Justin, Gruev.
Venue: Stadium of Light
Attendance: 46,675
Referee: Tony Harrington
Booked: Hume (Sunderland)
