Sunderland 1-2 West Brom: Player Ratings as Black Cats slip up at an icy Stadium of Light
It was a frustrating night for Sunderland as they surrendered a first half lead to lose 2-1 at home to West Brom.
It was the typical game of two halves as a fine first 45 minutes was followed up by an abject second.
Here is how the Sunderland players rated on the night.
Sunderland player ratings
Anthony Patterson - Indecisive for Dike's winner. Needs to keep working on his decision making. 6
Lynden Gooch - Got forward to support attacks well in the first half. The ball can get stuck at his feet though, and his positioning can be shaky. Hume or Huggins could be worthy of a chance soon. 6
Danny Batth - Gave away a necessary yellow in the first half which possibly meant he held back in other key moments. 6
Luke O'Nien - Distribution was excellent on both feet. He's proving himself to be technically good enough at this level, which is one thing we might not have expected from him this season. His blood and thunder style sometimes leads him to getting dragged out of position. 7
Aji Alese - Gets up and down the line really well but lacks the skillset to be really incisive when he's in advanced areas. He's doing admirably but I still see him as a centre half in the long term. 6
Corry Evans - I don't really remember him doing anything which means that he was probably OK but nothing more than. 6
Dan Neil - He showed several moments of quality, including a delightful exchange of passes on the left which almost presented a scoring opportunity. Playing in a midfield two does expose some of his tactical shortcomings but I thought he did well for the most part. 7
Elliot Embleton - Needed to get tighter to Jed Wallace. A couple of neatly touches, but all of our attacks were understandably being funnelled towards Amad. 6
Alex Pritchard - Zipped around intelligently and linked play well in the first half. Should perhaps have done better for the one on one which Palmer brilliantly saved. 7
Amad Diallo - Brilliant again. Won the penalty, scored it, and could have had another given. A constant outlet who is pairing his mercurial talent with smart decision-making and graft. Praying to god that Man United don't recall him in January. 9
Ellis Simms - Worked hard but saw relatively little of the ball. Looked tired as the match wore on. Sharing minutes with Ross Stewart will benefit him. 6
SUBS
Jack Clarke - Taken out of the side and had a point to prove. Didn't really prove that point other than a couple of flashes. 5
Dennis Cirkin - Couldn't find a man when he was played in smartly by Clarke. Interesting to see how he plays his way back into the team after Alese has started the last two games at left back. 5
Patrick Roberts - Looked sharp enough when he came on. Might have to find another role other than right-wing for himself if he wants to start. 6
Abdoullah Ba - Looked to get on the ball but didn't have enough time to effect things. Could be worth seeing how he fares in a midfield three at some point as he always looks to play the ball forwards. 5
Leon Dajaku - Not sure he touched the ball. 5
Man of the Match
Amad Diallo: On fire. It's exciting to see how he and Stewart play together.