Sunderland: Evans shone vs Blackburn

Sunderland dropped all the way down to twelfth within the Championship desk on Tuesday night time as they misplaced 2-0 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Ben Brereton Diaz opened the scoring with a spectacular left-footed strike from the sting of the field within the thirty second minute. The ball fell to him kindly after block by Danny Batth and the Chile worldwide wrapped the ball into the highest left nook of Anthony Patterson’s internet.

Nevertheless, there was controversy across the aim as Jack Clarke was tripped up within the field on the different finish of the pitch simply seconds earlier than Diaz’s strike, however referee Craig Pawson didn’t see the contact and waved away the appeals.

Rovers then sealed the three factors as Scott Wharton flicked a free-kick into the again of the online along with his head, beating Luke O’Nien on the close to put up and giving Patterson no likelihood to cease it.

Tony Mowbray’s aspect could really feel aggrieved by the referee’s no-call for the obvious foul on Clarke however they didn’t create sufficient high-quality possibilities or take advantage of the alternatives they did get for the remainder of the 90 minutes to warrant taking dwelling the three factors.

There have been, nonetheless, some positives to take out of the sport; considered one of them being the efficiency of captain Corry Evans in the midst of the park.

He was the shining mild for Sunderland in midfield as he put in a wonderful show in opposition to his former membership. The 32-year-old helped the Black Cats to manage the sport, ending the match with 60% possession, however his teammates weren’t in a position to take advantage of the domination that he performed a job in creating.

Was Evans Sunderland’s man of the match?

Evans was nearly faultless in what he did in possession. As per SofaScore, he accomplished 98% of his tried passes (58/59) and all 9 of his lengthy go makes an attempt, which allowed his crew to take pleasure in loads of time on the ball.

He had 65 touches, greater than Alex Pritchard’s 54, as he set the tempo for Sunderland which consequently offered the forwards with the chance to make issues occur on the high finish of the pitch. Sadly, Pritchard didn’t create a single chance after teeing up Dennis Cirkin within the second minute and Patrick Roberts didn’t present any key passes from his 70 touches.

Evans received 80% (4/5) of his particular person duels off the ball and made four tackles and interceptions mixed. This exhibits that he was robust out of possession and that – alongside along with his play on the ball – is why the midfield warrior was the star of the present for Mowbray on the night time.