Emersonn opens the scoring for Ipswich Town during their 2-1 win over Sunderland at Portman Road (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)
Emersonn opens the scoring for Ipswich Town during their 2-1 win over Sunderland at Portman Road (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire)
THOMAS MEUNIER admits Sunderland’s opening-day defeat at Ipswich Town taught him a valuable lesson about the unpredictable nature of the Premier League.
Meunier made his Black Cats debut at Portman Road following his summer move from Lille, but was left disappointed after Jack Clarke’s 90th-minute strike condemned the Black Cats to a 2-1 defeat.
The experienced full-back felt his new side was in good shape heading into their opening fixture, and was confident they would go on to take all three points after Nilson Angulo cancelled out Emersonn’s opener with a superb direct free-kick towards the end of the first half.
Instead, Sunderland fell flat in the second half, failing to seriously threaten the Ipswich goal before Clarke struck, and while Meunier was left scratching his head at the final whistle, he also headed back to Wearside accepting that in English football, sometimes you have to expect the unexpected.
“I don’t really know what to think,” admitted the Belgium international. “After Nilson’s free-kick, I thought that we were going back on track. We had a few good actions, a few good moves.
“We were more impactful and I really thought that we would make the difference, but in the end, I think maybe it’s new for me.
“It’s the Premier League, you don’t know what to expect and you cannot underestimate anyone. For the first game, I hoped for something better, but unfortunately, it was not the case.”
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In particular, Meunier was left frustrated at Sunderland’s failure to convert their plentiful possession into goalscoring opportunities, a failing that Regis Le Bris also highlighted in his post-match assessment of the game.
The Black Cats had 62.2 per cent of possession at Portman Road, a much higher total than they recorded in the majority of their matches last season, but mustered just four shots on target, finishing the game with an expected goals total of 0.76.
“For me, we had to create many, many more chances with the players that we have,” said Meunier. “Sometimes, we had a lack of infiltration.
“We cannot say that we played really bad, it’s not true. We had really good moments and periods in the game, but at the end, we had maybe two or three good chances. We were dangerous, but it was not as dangerous as we have to be to score a goal.”
Attention now turns to Sunday’s opening home game of the season, which will see Fulham visit the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland’s home form was the bedrock of their success last season, with their first Premier League home defeat of the campaign not coming until mid-February, and while Meunier was not a part of that run, he is hoping to contribute to a similarly-successful sequence this term.
“I hope it was just an off day [at Ipswich] and that next weekend against Fulham, we will show another face,” he said. “At the end, football is not an exact science. But at home, for the first one of the season, we need to show something else.”