The [Black Cats](http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/sunderland?ref=au) remain unbeaten at the Stadium of Light in the league this season after they added Manchester City’s name to the growing list of supposedly superior teams they have successfully contained this term.
Just as Arsenal were unable to leave Wearside victorious, Pep Guardiola’s title hopefuls were also left frustrated as Sunderland’s defensive commitment, organisation and unshakeable resolve earned them a fully-deserved point.
Time and time again, the superb Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete shut down attacks, blocked shots and won headers in their own 18-yard box. Mukiele’s handling of Erling Haaland was a central-defensive masterclass, and on the couple of occasions when Robin Roefs was called into action to make crucial saves, the Dutchman was not found wanting.
At the other end, Sunderland’s main threat came in the first half, with Gianluigi Donnarumma saving from Brian Brobbey and Trai Hume heading over when well placed, but this was not a night when the Black Cats were hanging on for dear life. That they finished the game with the same number of shots on target as their opponents proved as much.
Manchester City’s dominance of possession was hardly a surprise, but a well-organised Sunderland side were happy to sit deep in a low block, soaking up pressure while looking to break on the counter-attack.
Bernardo Silva had an early effort rightly ruled out for offside – the Portuguese midfielder was still beyond the last defender as he looked to come back before flicking in from a corner – but it was a couple of long balls from Sunderland that created the game’s best two opportunities in the opening half-hour.
First, Mukiele sent Brobbey racing into the right-hand side of the 18-yard box, with Gianluigi Donnarumma saving the Dutchman’s shot after he shrugged off Ruben Dias.
Then, a couple of minutes later, it was Alderete sending Eliezer Mayenda, back in the starting side for the first time since August, into the left of the area. Both Mayenda and Simon Adingra were held up by Manchester City defenders, but the ball broke to Trai Hume, who fired over.
Not the first time, Lutsharel Geertruida’s versatility was a key part of Sunderland’s defensive strength, with the Dutchman notionally lining up as a defensive midfielder but often dropping into the backline or supporting Hume at right-back in order to snuff out City’s attacking threat.
Guardiola’s side were struggling to penetrate the Sunderland defence, although their best passing move of the first half almost led to an opener eight minutes before the break. Phil Foden found space close to the byline, but while he picked out Haaland, the Norwegian’s shot from close to the penalty spot was saved by the legs of Roefs.
It was a decent chance, but Sunderland fashioned an even better one in first-half stoppage time. Granit Xhaka curled over a cross from the left, and from an unmarked position ten yards out, Hume glanced a header over the crossbar. In a game of few clear-cut openings, the Northern Irishman should at least have hit the target.
The same was true of Savinho at the start of the second half, indeed if anything, the Manchester City winger was guilty of missing a much easier chance than the one that was presented to Hume. Rayan Cherki slid over a low cross from the right, and after breaking ahead of his marker, Savinho fired over from just outside the six-yard box.
Suddenly, the game was opening up, and after Donnarumma parried a shot from Simon Adingra, the City goalkeeper got down to his left to make an even better stop from Mayenda. Enzo Le Fee released the Spaniard into the area, and Donnarumma needed every inch of his towering frame to claw away Mayenda’s low shot.
Guardiola turned to his bench in an attempt to change the game, with Rodri, Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol all coming on in the first 12 minutes of the second half, but while two of the replacements combined to fashion a chance midway through the second period, Roefs was equal to it as parried away Gvardiol’s header from Rodri’s cross.
Sunderland’s defensive commitment was remarkable all night, and it was exemplified by the double block that prevented City from scoring late on. First Mukiele hurled himself in front of a shot from Doku, then Alderete did exactly the same to prevent Foden from scoring with the follow-up.
Gvardiol brushed the outside of the post with a flicked shot from Rodri’s cross, but displaying the kind of tenacity and resilience that served them so well all season, Sunderland’s defence held firm despite some relentless late Manchester City pressure.