We need to talk about Granit Xhaka's impact on Sunderland's next generation!
Sunderland drew 1-1 with Everton at the Stadium of Light on Monday night
Régis Le Bris said it was a good point for his Sunderland side after they battled back from a poor start to draw with Everton at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats fell behind when Iliman Ndiaye scored a fine individual strike inside the first quarter of an hour, with the visitors then spurning some huge opportunities thereafter. Sunderland improved as the half developed, with Granit Xhaka equalising a minute into the second half.
The Black Cats were the better side thereafter but weren’t able to score a winner.
“Yes, we didn't start well, or the opponents started really well, they were better than us, they were dominant,” Le Bris said.
“We were not composed on the ball and we turned the ball over many times, so it was like we fed their dynamic, because they like spaces, they like counter-attacks, they like 1v1s, Grealish, Ndiaye... they are really good when they have space to exploit, and because of our turnovers it was possible to do that.
“Later in the game I think we were more composed and we dominated the game, but these first 30 minutes were not at the level of the Premier League. I think it was connected with the game plan, we didn't find out something new, it was just a question of doing, and sometimes you can understand where are the spaces, how you can manage the build-up, the progression phase and so on, but it's much harder to do it on the pitch, so it was a question of quality at that minute, but we switched on a bit later and we are back in the game.
“What I can say is that Everton worked hard the first part of the game, they defended well, they ran everywhere and it was tough to break this pressure, so it's a question now of level, we have to lift this part of our game, but I think we have this quality, but we are still a really young team, so we need experiences and with back and forth we will improve our level.”
Le Bris was asked if his overall feeling was one of frustration, but said that wasn’t really the case.
“Not really, because I think this league is so tough, it's a good reminder of how hard it is to win a single point in that league,” he said.
“We started really well, so we might forget that we are still a promoted team, with young lads, not experienced and so on, so it's a good point to be fair.”
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Why VAR didn’t award Sunderland a penalty in second half of Everton draw
The Premier League have released a statement confirming why Sunderland were not awarded a penalty in the second half of their 1-1 draw with Everton.
Sunderland had huge appeals for a penalty turned away when Michael Keane blocked a cross, with the ball striking his hand away to his right. A brief VAR check backed the referee’s decision not to award a penalty, which the game resuming shortly afterwards.
The Premier League match centre released a tweet explaining the decision, saying that Keane’s arm was deemed to be in a ‘justifiable’ position.
The statement said: “The referee’s call of no penalty to Sunderland was checked and confirmed by VAR – with Keane’s arm deemed to be in a justifiable position.”
Speaking after the game, Le Bris said of the incident: “I haven’t seen it back yet, but those on the bench who saw it have told me it should have been a penalty.”
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