Wigan 1-4 Sunderland: Player Ratings as Sunderland finish 2022 in style
Sunderland closed out what was a brilliant 2022 in fitting style as they crushed Wigan 4-1 at the DW Stadium.
The win moves Sunderland up to fourth position in the Championship and ignited hopes of an push for the play-offs in the second half of the season.
Here is how the players rated.
Sunderland player ratings
Anthony Patterson - At fault for Wigan's equaliser with uncharacteristically dodgy handling. Punched clear set-pieces which looked Wigan's most likely chance of scoring. 5
Trai Hume - Got forward well, grabbed an assist and clattered James McClean. A good evening's work. 7
Dan Ballard - Colossal for the most part. Plays on the edge physically, and can give away a few too many fouls, but didn't really give Wigan's brutish forwards a sniff. 8
Bailey Wright - Slotted in seamlessly and was a cool head. Just a great player to have in the squad. 7
Luke O'Nien - Just seems to win every one of his battles. Had to play at the left of a three and did superbly again, including one magnificent, game-changing recovery challenge to stop Lang putting Wigan ahead. 8
Jack Clarke - A match which suited Jack Clarke. He had plenty of ground to run in to and was very dynamic in the first half. As with Amad, he held on to the ball for too long at times. 7
Dan Neil - Won the ball back more times than I can remember him doing in a Sunderland shirt and was stylish and composed throughout. A performance we simply wouldn't have seen from him even a few months ago. 9
Edouard Michut - Dropped deep for the most part, receiving the ball and smoothly recycling it. Did very well considering how long he's been out of the side. 7
Abdoullah Ba - Playing in an advanced role, Ba was central to a lot of what we did well. Breaks through the lines extremely well, has great feet, and always looks to get the ball forwards. Another player, who went off injured. On the basis of this evening he could play a big role in the second half of the season, so lets pray it was nothing serious. 8
Amad Diallo- I cleverly thought I could finish my player ratings a bit early and had written something like 'wasn't at his best tonight. Gave the ball away too often and tried to do too much' but then OOOOOHHHH WHAT A GOAL!!! He's in the Malbranque, Sessegnon, Mcgeady category of most classy players we've seen in a Sunderland shirt. 7
Ellis Simms - Nodded in the opener and his pace and size are always a problem for opposition defenders. Can look a bit lumbering and ungainly, and didn't hold the ball up well enough, which led to Wigan's first equaliser. 6
SUBS
Ross Stewart - Another ice cold penalty. His movement and hold up play is just that little sharper than Ellis Simms'. 7
Alex Pritchard - Was replaced by Matete after about 5 minutes on the pitch. An awful shame. Praying that it's more precautionary than serious. N/A
Patrick Roberts - What a cameo. Scored a deflected goal after a sequence of piss-taking football of the highest order, did brilliantly to win the penalty, and interchanged beautifully to assist Amad for the 4th goal. Not a bad 25 minutes work. Will surely start against Blackpool. 9
Jay Matete - Pressed aggressively and smartly. Doesn't look quite as natural on the ball as others do, which perhaps explains why Mowbray doesn't trust him to start games. 6
Leon Dajaku - Did really well?! Athletic, hungry and forward thinking. More of that please. 7
Man of the Match - Neil - We've always known he was a lovely footballer, but this was a display full of maturity and guts. A complete midfield performance.
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