Hull City vs Sunderland. Sky Bet Championship.
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Report and free match highlights from the Sky Bet Championship match between Hull City and Sunderland at the MKM Stadium on Boxing Day | Jack Clarke's late winner kickstarts Michael Beale era at Black Cats.
Tuesday 26 December 2023 18:10, UK
Michael Beale claimed a first victory since taking charge of Sunderland with a 1-0 triumph at Hull in the Championship.
Jack Clarke scored the winning goal after 82 minutes when he cut inside from the left before smartly directing the football into the bottom right-hand corner.
Beale, who replaced Tony Mowbray earlier in the month, suffered a miserable start in his new role when Coventry won 3-0 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
But the former Rangers manager will be delighted by the resolute manner in which his players went about their business in East Yorkshire - and even happier with the full-time scoreline which moved the Black Cats above Hull into the top six.
Jude Bellingham, sporting a Sunderland scarf in support of his brother Jobe, was watching from the stands but may have been questioning his decision to ditch Madrid for Hull after an awful first half.
The hosts were given no time on the football - especially through the middle - while Sunderland were more direct, but they, too, could not gain an efficient grip on the match and were largely kept at arm's length from Matt Ingram's goal.
The game finally awoke from its post-Christmas slumber after 24 minutes, when Tyler Morton weaved a direct route towards goal from the left.
Morton's cross was dangerous, but goalkeeper Anthony Patterson did well to parry the ball to safety.
By contrast to the opening 45 minutes, the second half began earnestly when Morton sent across a dangerous ball from the right and Scott Twine teed up Aaron Connolly, but his feeble hit in front of goal was easily saved.
Sunderland responded with Patrick Roberts breezing clear of Regan Slater on the right before stabbing the ball into a dangerous area. Centre-back Alfie Jones looked in trouble facing his own goal so therefore did well to divert the ball for a corner.
The longer the game progressed, the more composed Sunderland became.
This was evidenced after 62 minutes when Slater lost possession in Hull's penalty box. Adil Aouchiche seized control but thrashed the ball just over the crossbar.
Beale's men then created a fine chance after 67 minutes when Clarke threaded a lovely ball towards an onrushing Roberts. He had it all to do from a tricky angle but should still have made Ingram work harder in a one-on-one situation on the right of the six-yard box.
With Sunderland having committed men forward, Hull nearly scored in transition when Liam Delap bullied his way into the visitors' box. The Manchester City loan signing let rip from the right but Patterson reacted smartly to tip the ball around the left-hand post.
Patterson also thwarted Morton from a similar angle, but they lacked offensive clout once Clarke scored and could find no way through their hard-working opponents.
Hull's Liam Rosenior:
"It was a very evenly matched game between two teams pushing for the top six. I thought we had the better chances, but they also had some degree of control.
"We're not taking control of the big moments of games - we didn't take our chances when they came our way. I'm tired of coming out with the same story. We haven't got the points our performances deserve.
"At 0-0 with 20 minutes to go we had to make sure we kept the back door shut. It's a difficult one to take, but we now have to focus on a difficult game against Blackburn.
"We have to be more clinical at one end and more ruthless at the other. If we do that we've got the makings of a really good team. The players are a frustrated group as they know how good they can be."
Sunderland's Michael Beale:
"I knew it would be a tough game and that we hadn't won away from home for a long time, but I thought we should have won by more.
"We missed some big chances. Some of our interplay was good and it was just whether we could execute that in the final third.
"I'm absolutely delighted with the mentality of the side.
"That's a big, big positive, but the big thing for me is that we need consistency. We must back it up against Rotherham.
"The inconsistency tells me we can't get too high or too low - it's important we keep going."
