Sunderland lose unbeaten Premier League home record as Liverpool claim deserved win
The Black Cats failed to threaten Liverpool with the away side displaying a professional away performance to win.
It has been written on many occasions this season that Sunderland are going against the grain when it comes to how newly promoted teams have performed in the Premier League. As the Black Cats welcomed champions Liverpool to Wearside, the biggest indicator of just how impressive Sunderland have been came from the fact that just three points separated the sides ahead of kick off.
Three points between a side who had won the Premier League at a canter last season, and another who had scored a stoppage time winner in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley to gain promotion.
When the sides last met in December, Sunderland had been at their rampant best and came away with a well-deserved 1-1 draw at Anfield. That result, and the contrasting performances shown by Liverpool and Sunderland during that match was the perfect metaphor to highlight the type of season each club was experiencing.
This time though, Liverpool looked more like a club who had spent over £400 million in the summer. Their performance was not perfect, but it certainly merited the victory against Sunderland, who finally saw their unbeaten record in the top flight this season come to an end.
After early pressing from Sunderland which excited the home crowd, the match settled into a rhythm with Liverpool maintaining the majority of possession, and quality lacking from both sides initially. Liverpool had more forays forward, but ultimately Robin Roefs remained largely untested during the opening period.
It took a Florian Wirtz effort from outside the box to really kick Liverpool into gear. That shot was tipped past the post by the Sunderland stopper, but it gave Liverpool the belief they needed to really start applying the pressure. Soon after Wirtz again took aim, this time striking the post.
The attacks were relentless, but frustratingly for the visitors they could not find the lead before the break. Even in the early minutes of the second half, Liverpool struggled to be clinical in the final third, although Sunderland themselves were less passive than they had been in the opening 45.
The frustration finally ended for Liverpool with around half an hour left to play, when Virgil van Dijk connected with a corner, sending the ball goalbound. Despite Habib Diarra’s best efforts, all he could do was help the ball into the net with his head.
Sunderland grew more after Liverpool took the lead and looked to cause the away side problems, but their attempts were in vain. They lacked some of the ruthless nature that had seen them not lose a home game up until this point. The home crowd voiced their frustrations throughout the encounter, emotions that would have undoubtedly been shared by Régis Le Bris on the touch line.
For Le Bris, he will have to make sure his players do not get too downhearted about losing their home record, and remind them that they must continue to look up the Premier League table, and not down it.