Following Lee Johnson’s departure, Dodds banished the memories of his challenging first season by leading the Black Cats to thrilling triumphs over Leeds and West Brom in his first game in command in December. But this was a nightmare rather than a dream, or at least it felt like one throughout the first part.
Swansea City won 2-1, which was fortunate for the hosts as they could have been behind by at least five goals during a chaotic first forty-five minutes.
The second half couldn’t have been worse than the first, but it was at least better, and Black Cats captain Luke O’Nien gave them some optimism by halving the score with a header from close range. But even though Anthony Patterson came dangerously near to scoring a corner in the last seconds after charging up for one, the equaliser that Sunderland wouldn’t have merited never materialised.
The first half was easily the worst Sunderland has played thus far this season; following Ronald Pereira Martin’s double to put Swansea in total control, the home team was jeered off at halftime. The visitors, who had only triumphed in one of their previous seven games and were only three points above the relegation zone going into Wearside, threatened to go on the rampage. Both Ronald and his teammate Pryzemyslaw Placheta had the opportunity to score three goals in a row. On the other hand, Carl Rushworth easily stopped Sunderland’s two meek efforts on goal during the first half.
After the interval, there was an increase in intensity but a lack of creativity, with Jack Clarke, predictably, being a major miss.
The first major task for Dodds was figuring out how to function without Clarke, and the acting head coach made an effort to be resourceful without his top player. Callum Styles made his debut as one of four changes, along with Dan Ballard (suspended) being replaced by Jenson Seelt, and Romaine Mundle and Mason Burstow being replaced by Abdoullah Ba and Nazariy Rusyn.
Dodds chose to start a makeshift frontman in his three games as manager in December rather than one of the team’s natural attackers. Ruysn was in from the start, but he wasn’t playing like a traditional center-forward. Styles played left wing-back for Sunderland when they were out of possession. However, when they had the ball, the rookie moved forward into midfield and Bellingham advanced as the centre striker, with Ba and Ruysn positioned on either side.
It was unsuccessful. It appeared jumbled from away, and it took twelve minutes for the home team to penetrate Swansea’s zone, with Rusyn curling a left-footed effort over the crossbar.
By the thirty-minute mark, Sunderland was behind 2-0, but things might have gone worse. Swansea took advantage of space behind the wing-backs from the start, so it was not surprising that the first goal was skillfully sent down a flank. Liam Cullen headed in Josh Tymon’s cross, and Ronald scored on the rebound even though Anthony Patterson made a great save to stop the striker.
Nine minutes later, Joe Allen scored the second goal for the Brazilian, stealing a pass from Luke O’Nien and setting up the winger with an exquisite pass.
With his head buried in his hands, Dodds’ opponent Williams must have been perplexed as to why the lead was just two goals at halftime. It might have been much worse for Sunderland.
Placheta was close to scoring a hat-trick. He hit the post with a header from close range, had a shot deflected slightly, then somehow rocketed over from six yards. Ronald also had the opportunity to score three goals instead of just two, but he missed a long-range attempt following yet another excellent Allen pass.
Sunderland was in disarray. When Dodds realised that the current formation wasn’t working, he switched to a 4-2-3-1 with Styles on the right side of midfield. This gave the team’s play a little more purpose and vigour in the first half of the second half.
Pierre Ekwah was close by with a long-range curling attempt, while Abdoullah Ba’s flashing drive across the goal just needed a little assistance. A striker is sorely needed by Sunderland.
While Belingham and Ba were not as honest, game, or vivacious as Rusyn was, she never gave the impression that she was going to score. Rushworth saved one effort in the second half with ease.
When Anthony Patterson went up for a corner deep in stoppage time, Rushworth made a fantastic save, almost tying the score. Then, O’Nien, the captain, raised spirits and gave Sunderland hope when he headed in an Ekwah free-kick from the left.
