Sunderland Nation

Burnley 0-0 Sunderland: Player Ratings as Cats scrap to impressive draw

Who impressed for Sunderland as they held league leaders Burnley on their own patch?

Rob Cairns

Burnley 0-0 Sunderland: Player Ratings as Cats scrap to impressive draw
Burnley 0-0 Sunderland: Player Ratings as Cats scrap to impressive draw /

Sunderland battled their way to a fine point at league leaders Burnley, becoming the first visiting team for nearly a year to keep a clean sheet at Turf Moor.

Tony Mowbray set up his side to be disciplined and compact but press from the front, and they gave a fantastic account of themselves. 

Amad Diallo hit the bar and Jack Clarke had a goal ruled out for offside, while the defenders really shone on the night. 

Here is how the players rated. 

Sunderland player ratings vs Burnley (4-2-3-1)

Anthony Patterson - Kicking was ropey, handling was solid. Given how much Burnley dominated possession, he didn't have an awful lot to do. 7

Trai Hume - Plays with so much tenacity and desire, to go with his quality. Tendency to fly into challenges a fraction of a second late could become an issue. 7

Danny Batth - Captain's performance. The height difference between him and Goochy in the post match interview was a sight to behold. 8

Luke O'Nien - I just love him. This is the lad who we signed from Wycombe who could hardly make a pass in his first few games. I don't care what swathes of Sunderland Twitter has to say, he'll go down as a club legend in my eyes. 8

Lynden Gooch - There are few greater natural highs than watching Lynden at his committed, gritty, ballsy best. He's hardly played for months and seemingly just sprinted for 90 minutes straight. 9

Pierre Ekwah - Criticism towards him was a bit over the top in the first half. He does give the ball away quite a lot, but he also did plenty of encouraging things too. I'd imagine making your first start in men's football against this Burnley side is quite difficult. 6

Dan Neil - Tireless. Still got plenty of developing to do, his decision making can still be a bit slow, but the signs are that he's able to keep improving his game. 7

Jack Clarke - I was one of those earlier in the season guilty of the heinous crime of calling Clarke 'frustrating'. I haven't felt that in a while. He's become far less predictable and always defends diligently. 7

Alex Pritchard - Was instrumental in the high press that we had some joy with in the first half. Given the nature of the game, he was given very little opportunity to effect the game in an attacking sense. 7

Patrick Roberts - About the most anonymous he's been in an attacking sense all season. Grafted extremely hard but just couldn't beat a man or combine with his teammates as he's usually able to. 6

Joe Gelhardt - Worked really hard. Is able to receive the ball and turn a man really satisfyingly at times. I have no doubt that he'll make an excellent midfielder in the future. 6

SUBS 

Edouard Michut - His composure and speed of thought is clearly ahead of Ekwah's. 6

Amad Diallo - Should have played in Clarke when he hit a deflected shot on to the bar. To my mind he's absolutely part of our strongest XI, but he is a bit off it at the moment. 6

Abdoullah Ba - He was a couple of postcodes offside for Clarke's cross-shot which was disallowed late in the game. Excellent technically but still needs to work on his decision making and ball retention. 6

Isaac Lihadji - Has a bit about him, and it's encouraging that Mowbray trusts him in situations like this. 6

Dennis Cirkin - Always looks composed beyond his years. Lets get him fit please. 6

Man of the Match - Goooooooooooooch

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Rob Cairns
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