Sunderland vs Queens Park Rangers. Sky Bet Championship.
Stadium of LightAttendance26,066.
Saturday 14 October 2017 18:36, UK
Sunderland's wait for a first home win in 2017 continues after they were held to a 1-1 draw by QPR.
The Black Cats have now gone a remarkable 17 games without claiming victory at the Stadium of Light, and they remain rooted in the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone.
Things might have been even worse for them after Idrissa Sylla's first-half header gave QPR a deserved lead, but a second-half rally saw Aiden McGeady curl home an excellent equaliser from the edge of the area.
The visitors are still waiting for their first away win of the campaign, after they peppered Jason Steele's goal in search of a late winner without any success.
Sunderland were able to welcome Duncan Watmore back to the starting line-up after a 10-month absence with a cruciate ligament injury, and the former England U21 international was his side's brightest attacker from the outset.
The Black Cats have missed Watmore's pace and dribbling ability and, after Alex Smithies made a decent save to deny George Honeyman in the opening minutes, the returning forward set up McGeady for an opportunity that should really have resulted in a breakthrough.
Having spun past his marker close to the halfway line, Watmore produced a slide-rule pass that sent McGeady galloping clear of the defence. The Republic of Ireland international had plenty of time to pick his spot, but rolled a weak side-footed effort well wide of the target.
QPR had spurned chances of their own by that stage, most notably when Sylla could only head straight at Steele after a long ball caused confusion in the home defence.
There was always a good chance that Sunderland's defensive deficiencies would rear their head again, though, and sure enough some desperate defending enabled the visitors to open the scoring seven minutes before the break.
Luke Freeman swung over a corner from the right-hand side, and with Steele rooted to his line, Sylla out-jumped James Vaughan inside the six-yard box to head home.
Sylla should have added a second goal shortly before the break, but he blazed over from eight yards after Jamie Mackie picked him out with a driven cross.
Mackie was the provider again at the start of the second half as he pulled the ball back for Pawel Wszolek to drill a shot straight at Steele, but Sunderland also went close shortly after the interval through Lewis Grabban, who came off the bench at the interval to replace the ineffective Vaughan.
Watmore whipped in a cross from the right, and Grabban's first-time effort was creeping in at the near post before Smithies turned the ball behind for a corner.
Sunderland were a more threatening proposition with Grabban on the field, and they equalised shortly after the hour mark. Didier Ndong teed up McGeady close to the edge of the area, and the Irishman atoned for his first-half miss as he curled home an exquisite left-footed strike.
Simon Grayson: "The lads showed a lot of character. We've not won it, but we've not got beat. That's a small step, and hopefully the small steps that we're taking at this moment in time will help lead to bigger ones in the next few weeks. When we're at home, we want to break that hoodoo and win games. I thought we started okay, but we knew the first goal would be important and we had a couple of decent opportunities before they scored.
"We got done on a set-piece, which isn't really like us, and that knocked us back a bit. Full credit to the players, they were brave in the second half and we were more positive and passed it on the front foot. It was a great goal from Aiden, and we looked like the only team that were going to win it once we got back into it. But of course you're disappointed because you want to be picking up three points at home."
Ian Holloway: "If we had got that second goal, that might have killed them stone dead. I thought we bossed it. For the away team, I thought we played really well. The biggest difference was the substitutions that Simon has the capacity to make. Sometimes, that can make a big difference in this division. We lost Jack Robinson in the week and that was a big blow because he has been excellent for us.
"Last year, our goalkeeper had to make save after save in a lot of games for us, but we feel much more comfortable now. Sunderland had their moments, but as a team I thought we created a lot of chances. We needed that second goal though, and we just couldn't get it. If we had got it, then I just felt as though the atmosphere around the place would have made it very difficult for them."
