Sunderland coped well without their AFCON stars by holding Brighton to a 0-0 draw at the Amex.
This was the first meeting between the two clubs in the Premier League, and Sunderland were without regulars Noah Sadiqi, Reynaldo, Bertrand Traore and Kemzuddin Talbi, all of whom left the club to take part in the African Cup of Nations, but the level of performance was extremely high.
Regis Le Bris’ side created better chances with Dan Ballard and Oscar Alderete being denied by home goalkeeper Bert Verbruggen.
Alderete’s header from Enzo Le Fe’s cross just after the break was the best moment of the game, but Verbruggen made a superb stop to send it into the net.
Brighton improved as the game progressed, but Yassin Ayari failed to find the back of the net with five shots despite posting an expected goals average of 0.72.
Sweden international Ayali missed a golden chance after substitute Sharalampos Kostouras cut the ball in from the right, amid growing frustration among the home supporters, but his powerful drive was parried away by Robin Rufus.
Analysis: Ballard is Premier League quality
Dan Ballard starred again for Sunderland as they achieved back-to-back clean sheets.
Sky Sports’ Lewis Jones said:
Sunderland remain fifth in Europe, but Brighton are currently without a win in four games and there was a roar from the home fans at the final whistle.
Dan Ballard is active in the Premier League. In a place that tends to expose players, Ballard stepped up effortlessly from the championship.
It was no coincidence that he kept consecutive clean sheets against Newcastle and Brighton. Ballard has been at the forefront of both of these great defenses.
Ballard isn’t just a strong guy, he reads the picture early on and is rarely dragged into duels where he doesn’t have to fight. When Brighton attacked directly, he dominated the box with authority, winning first contact and knocking away second balls. There was no fuss, just a high-level defense that was highly reproducible.
Premier League football is unforgiving, but Ballard is making life look easy at the level of this sensational Sunderland team.
Le Bris: That’s a good point.
Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris said:
“I think we played well for 65 minutes and had some chances to score.
“That wasn’t the case today, but I think it’s always important when you play away against a strong team to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Then Brighton pushed, which is normal and we were in a bit of a dodgy situation, but it’s still a good point.
“Their subs gave us the extra drive and we had to defend.
“It’s not easy for new players on the team to step up, but they need time and experience to develop.
“As always, our centre-backs were very good, but the team always worked together and defended together.
“It’s not necessarily about individual players or centre-backs, but the collective spirit is very important.”
Hürzeller: satisfied with clean sheet
Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler said:
“We weren’t at our best in the first half against a really good team higher up in the table, but we responded well in the second half.
“We created a lot of chances, but it’s frustrating when you create chances and don’t score. We missed chances, but the challenge for us is consistency and starting and finishing the 90 minutes at the highest level.”
“I’m not happy with the chances we missed, but the clean sheet was good. Olivier (Boscali) and Diego (Coppola) played well. They kept the clean sheet and played well. We have things to work on, the table is very tight, but we have to try to be more consistent.”
