Stoke City vs Sunderland. Sky Bet Championship.
Bet365 StadiumAttendance21,230.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Stoke City and Sunderland at the bet365 Stadium as Ross Stewart scored the only goal of the game to earn all three points for the Black Cats.
Saturday 20 August 2022 18:27, UK
Ross Stewart hit his third goal of the season as Sunderland defeated Stoke 1-0 to move into the Championship top six.
The visiting Black Cats spent the majority of the opening period in their own half and had to wait 24 minutes to register their first shot.
Jacob Brown forced a miraculous stop from Anthony Patterson while the lively Lewis Baker also went close for the dominant Potters.
However, it was Alex Neil's side who snatched what proved to be an unassailable lead when Stewart struck moments before the interval.
Despite Stoke's best efforts in the second period, they failed in their pursuit of a leveller and saw their winless run stretch to four games in all competitions.
Michael O'Neill's outfit started promisingly, buoyed on by the arrival of Manchester City youngster Liam Delap who joined on a season-long loan in midweek.
The 19-year-old - son of Stoke icon and coach Rory Delap - threatened an early opener to mark his debut in style.
His strike partner Brown came close to converting a scintillating half-volley, but a backpedalling Sunderland stopper Patterson did tremendously to tip over.
An in-form Patterson was required to preserve the deadlock, frustrating both Brown and Lewis Baker in quick succession in a busy opening to the tie.
The Black Cats had their first shot shortly before the half hour mark when Ellis Simms fired marginally wide of the target from an acute angle.
Despite the home side's domination in a one-sided first half, it was the visitors who took the lead moments before the whistle through their talismanic Scot.
Stewart latched onto a delightful Jack Clarke floated pass and raced through on goal before despatching beyond Joe Bursik, who could have done better on second viewing.
The Potters responded positively after the restart and had a golden opportunity to level the scoring through Phil Jagielka.
However, the veteran defender - who turned 40 this month - opted to head an inviting Jordan Thompson delivery back across goal rather than at the target.
A frustrated Stoke side lacked the cutting edge in the final third and the aforementioned Simms tried to capitalise in a bright second half display.
The on-loan Everton forward - joint top scorer in the division with three goals - found himself in a promising position but dragged his strike narrowly beyond the near post in front of the 2,605 travelling supporters.
Former Newcastle striker Dwight Gayle wriggled beyond the Sunderland defence and nearly prodded home a late leveller, but the visitors remained resolute to hold on.
The result means Stoke have only one victory from their opening five league games, while the Black Cats' haul of eight points is enough to lift them into the top six.
Stoke's Michael O'Neill: "We were clearly the dominant team up until the goal. It's a poor goal for us to concede and we should have been ahead in the game. We could have done more with the opportunities we had, but ultimately the timing and the nature of the goal changed the whole outlook of the game. It's not a strike that should end up in the back of your net either. We put ourselves in a difficult position and in the second half you could see the frustration in our game. It just was one of those days where we made it difficult for ourselves after a really good first half performance.
"We're five games into the season, there's a lot of football to be played and I think it's about keeping it in perspective as well and that's what we'll try to do. This is quite a new squad of players and we've lost five or six players to injury who would push to be in our starting 11 so we're not really where we can be at this minute of time. I think we've got a really good team in our dressing room, but that's easy for me to say because we haven't shown that."
Sunderland's Alex Neil: "For them to acclimatise themselves the way they have done, it comes with young players; they have no fear of what's coming next. The good thing is that they listen to every word I say, and they try to carry it out the best they can. I think the only positive we took from the first half was that we scored. I thought we were really disappointing. We didn't compete well or use the ball well enough, so that was frustrating.
"We were leggy in the first half and you could see how much they put in the other night, so the goal gave us something for the second half. But the lads know the standard that we expect from them individually and collectively and in the second half we competed better. We were a threat and defensively we were excellent. We're a really unknown quantity at this level; the vast majority of lads haven't played at this level before. I think based on the games we've played; I've probably got a different outlook on it because I think we've merited more (points). We're pleased with where we are, but it's only the start of the season and there's a long way to go."
