Sunderland lost 2-0 to Manchester United after goals from Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko
Régis Le Bris said his Sunderland side learned a valuable lesson at Old Trafford after a poor first half saw them lose 2-0 to Manchester United.
The Black Cats produced an uncharacteristically sloppy first-half performance, conceding goals to Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko. Sunderland struggled to cope with the threat of Amad and Bryan Mbuemo down their left flank, with Le Bris switching to a back three around half an hour into the game.
That did lead to an improvement in the team, though Senne Lammens had few saves to make on his debut for the home team. Le Bris said it was crucial to maintain perspective despite the loss but says his players have seen how quickly then can be opened up when they fall short of their best level.
"I'm disappointed, because I think we that didn't start well," Le Bris said.
"We were aware of their threat, how they can be direct and threaten from the second balls. They created from this point, their right side was very strong with Mbuemo and Amad. We were aware of this and prepared for it, but sometimes the reality is different. For 30 minutes, we were not able to manage this part of the game and probably we were a little bit sloppy on the ball as well, so we were just not always at the level required. Then at 2-0 game down the game is completely different, they sit deeper. We tried to go man for man and to try to create something a bit more simple for us. It was a question of duels, two or three chances for us and two or three for them. In the end our reaction wasn't enough.
"It's a good lesson for us today, when we don't start properly either individually or collectively, you can feel that you are really fragile. You concede chances and can't express yourself with the ball. Even if Man Utd have struggled, they have always had the ability to create danger. We didn't manage their strengths properly, so in this case you can't expect anything. When we pushed a bit more we felt we create danger ourselves, but it wasn't enough.”
The game wasn’t without controversy, with Sunderland initially awarded a penalty in first-half stoppage time for a foul on Trai Hume by Sesko. The decision was overturned after a VAR review, while there was also a major decision in the second half when Bertrand Traore was shown a yellow card for diving after beating Lammens to a loose ball. Le Bris said it wouldn’t be right to comment on the refereeing as his team had fallen short of their best.
"Events like this happen during the game, but I don't want to complain because I think the main point was us," Le Bris said.
"We weren't at the level expected and I don't think a refereeing decision would have been the difference. The penalty, I haven't seen the clip so I don't know."
What the Premier League said about that VAR decision in Man Utd v Sunderland
The Premier League have released an official statement explaining why Sunderland’s penalty against Manchester United was overturned.
Sunderland thought they had a lifeline in the game when Enzo Le Fee had the chance to half a 2-0 deficit just before the break, but the referee overturned his original decision after a VAR check.
It was a strange sequence of events at the end of the first half at Old Trafford, beginning with a Sunderland long throw. Nordi Mukiele launched the ball to the front post, where Benjamin Sesko challenged Trai Hume. The ball struck Sesko and ran out of play, with the referee awarding a corner and waving away Sunderland’s appeals.
The referee then headed over to the touchline to discuss the incident with one of his assistant referees, then overturning his own decision and pointing to the spot. But when VAR checked the incident, the referee was brought over to the screen to review in the incident again. After watching the incident back a few times, he reverted to his original decision.
Insult was added to injury for Sunderland when they then spurned a huge chance to score, Xhaka’s corner to the back post met by Dan Ballard unmarked. From close range, the first-half substitute headed wide of his near post. The Premier League have now released an official statement via their match centre, saying that the decision was overturned because Sesko did not make contact with Hume’s head.
“After VAR review, the referee overturned the original decision of penalty to Sunderland,” the statement said.
“Referee announcement: “After review, there is no foul by the Manchester United player. He does not make contact with the head of the attacker. As the ball is out of play when the decision was made, the final decision is corner kick.”
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