Norwich 1-0 Sunderland: Player ratings as thirst for self-sabotage strikes again
Sunderland took their stubborn quest for self-sabotage to another new level as they slumped to a fourth successive Championship defeat at Norwich City.
The Canaries came out with a 1-0 win for which they didn’t even have to play well on a day when Sunderland’s quality in the final third somehow actually managed to get worse.
Here is how we rated those involved.
Norwich 1-0 Sunderland player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Anthony Patterson – A bit flappy again but an improvement on recent showings - 5
RB: Trai Hume – His worst game in a Sunderland shirt? Very possibly - 4
CB: Luke O’Nien – Alright. No more, no less. Not been the same player though since Mowbray’s football was ditched - 5
CB: Jenson Seelt – Not really given Dodds a decision to make next week when Dan Ballard is back - 4
LB: Leo Hjelde – Defended pretty well for the most part. Bit of a non-entity going forward though - 6
CM: Dan Neil – Probably the best player on the day? Not much competition though - 6
CM: Jobe Bellingham – It’s frustrating when we can all see he needs a sustained rest yet he’s being flogged every week. Not great, but not his fault. Also starting to feel like either nepotism or contractual, and that’s not fair on him either - 5
CM: Pierre Ekwah – Played okay but struggled for final product - 5
RW: Callum Styles – Few nice touches here and there. Not really making much of an impact though in truth - 5
CF: Luis Hemir – Had to feel for him. All the lad wants is some crosses yet everyone seemed to specifically and deliberately wait for him to go off before providing any - 4
LW: Romaine Mundle – Lightyears away from replacing Jack Clarke on this evidence - 4
Substitutes
Abdoullah Ba – Did pretty well in fairness – 6
Nazariy Rusyn – Missed a good chance but, like Hemir, suffered from the team giving him precisely the kind of service he doesn’t need – 5
Chris Rigg – Absolutely no reason now why he shouldn’t be starting – 6
Mason Burstow – Failed to impress again – 5
Manager
Mike Dodds – Good job he doesn’t want the gig at the end of the season as this particular audition isn’t going very well. This mess isn’t on him, though – 4
Referee
Thomas Kirk – He was okay - 7