Andy’s Player Ratings: Norwich 0-1 Sunderland - Lads show grit & determination in victory!

Anthony Patterson: 7/10

Wasn’t tested much today, other than some shots right at him that he handled well all game. Slight heart in mouth moment right near the end with a poor clearance but thankfully it didn’t come to anything.

Trai Hume: 7/10

Had a difficult game up against some creative Norwich players but defended well no matter who he was up against and made some strong tackles.

Dan Ballard: 8/10

Could have been a tricky game up against some mobile strikers but had the beating of them both on the ground and in the air, read the game really well too.

Danny Batth (C): 8/10

Had looked a little leggy of late but looked so much better today, like Ballard he had the beating of the Norwich strikers and looked very strong today.

Luke O’Nien: 7/10

He and Clarke got caught napping a little early on with a ball over the top but was solid all game on the left hand side of the defence.

Dan Neil: 7/10

A good response to that error last week, was seemingly everywhere all game protecting the defence and should have got an assist after his header found Gelhardt free in the box.

Edouard Michut: 7/10

Quietly effective today, covered a lot of ground in the middle of the pitch, read the game well and always found a team-mate.

Patrick Roberts: 6/10

Couldn’t quite get going in the first half but came out flying after the break and was causing Norwich all sorts of problems before drifting out of the game a bit once he went further forward following the withdrawal of Ba and Gelhardt.

Abdoullah Ba: 7/10

Took his goal really well, slowing the defending down before passing it into the far corner but his all round game was good too. Worked really hard off the ball and showed some nice touches.

Jack Clarke: 7/10

Caused loads of problems to the Norwich right hand side and grafted hard defensively.

Joe Gelhardt: 6/10

Much better today but still a mixed bag for Gelhardt. Really did put in a shift today, got an assist after playing in Ba but then missed an absolute sitter when in on goal and there were a few instances of him doing well initially but then not playing a ball quickly enough or taking the wrong option.

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Substitutes

Pierre Ekwah: 6/10

Covered a lot of ground after coming on, made one really important tackle in the box that prevented an opportunity but also misread the bounce a couple of times in dangerous positions.

Lynden Gooch: 7/10

Really got stuck in and typified the effort the rest of the team showed, made some very strong tackles and made life difficult for Norwich.

Issac Lihadji: 6/10

Took the ball up the pitch and gave us an out ball as we held on for three points.

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Man of the Match: Danny Batth

A captain’s performance in the middle of the defence, really strong all game and none of the many Norwich attackers on show got a sniff out of him. A great response after looking a bit tired the past few games and even had half a chance of scoring but couldn’t quite get enough of a header on a Clarke cross early on.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images