Aleksic woeful in 3/10, 8/10 MOTM – Sunderland player ratings v Norwich
Sunderland cemented their spot in the playoffs despite settling for a point in a 0-0 draw away to Norwich City.
Sunderland made it two wins from two in their 1-0 victory over West Brom, with hopes of building on that momentum in their clash at Carrow Road.
Regis Le Bris’ side entered the encounter with Norwich with a playoff place all but confirmed, and you could sense that in what was a rather lacklustre display at Carrow Road.
The Black Cats had to settle for a point in a 0-0 draw, though it has sealed a playoff spot for Sunderland.
Mackem News rates the performance of each player.
Sunderland fail to impress against Norwich
Anthony Patterson – 6
Made a decent stop after an error from Dan Neil, largely untested otherwise.
Trai Hume – 6
He wasn’t afforded many opportunities to create as he has done in recent weeks. Borja Sainz got the better of him a few times but was reliable more often than not.
Chris Mepham – 8
Made a crucial block in the first half to deny Norwich the opening goal and made a remarkable challenge in the second. Defensively solid throughout.
| Norwich v Sunderland | Pass accuracy | Tackles won | Duels won | Blocks |
| Mepham | 91% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Luke O’Nien – 7
Carried the ball out of defence very well and was very composed on the ball. Didn’t do much wrong outside of that.
Leo Hjelde – 5 (for Le Fee 68′)
Didn’t look particularly convincing on the ball, and found himself out of position defensively a few times.
Dan Neil – 5
Hasnt been himself for a few weeks now. Gave the ball away far too cheaply on a few occasions in the first half and didn’t bring much control to the midfield.
Chris Rigg – 7 (for Jones 82′)
Tidy on the ball and full of energy. Caused a few problems for Norwich without doing too much of note.
Alan Browne – 6
Back into his preferred midfield role and had a steady game. Played everything simple and didn’t do much wrong.
Milan Aleksic decision backfires for Sunderland
Milan Aleksic – 3 (for Aleksic 68′)
Aleksic has rarely played this season, but Le Bris got it completely wrong playing him on the right wing. Offered very little and was far too wasteful on the ball.
Tommy Watson – 6 (for Isidor 68′)
Fairly anonymous in the first half but started to grow into the game in the second. Put a couple of decent crosses in, though didn’t have much of an impact.
Eliezer Mayenda – 5
Did well on the occasions he was involved, but Sunderland just didn’t play to his strengths.
Subsitutions
Wilson Isidor – N/A (68′ for Watson)
Barely touched the ball
Enzo Le Fee – N/A (68 for Hjelde)
Patrick Roberts – N/A (68′ for Aleksic)
Harrison Jones – N/A (82′ for Rigg)