Andy’s Player Ratings: Cardiff City 0-1 Sunderland - The playoffs are still in sight after win!

Anthony Patterson: 7/10

Fairly comfortable afternoon for Patterson, made one good save low down to his left but otherwise was not stretched and handled everything well.

Trai Hume: 7/10

A more central role than he is used to but looked comfortable in that position without ever being really tested.

Dennis Cirkin: 8/10

A good game back for Cirkin, made a good clearance following Patterson’s one real save and popped up with the winner.

Danny Batth (C): 7/10

A very comfortable afternoon for Batth, dealt with all of Cardiff’s attacking threats with ease.

Lynden Gooch: 6/10

Up and down the wing all afternoon, defended well and provided support to Amad and Pritchard down the right. Had one good shot diverted over for a corner.

Dan Neil: 7/10

Controlled midfield for the majority of the game, looked a little tired near the end as Cardiff tried to get back into it but, other than not having his shooting boots on, a good game.

Pierre Ekwah: 6/10

Thought he competed well in the middle of the pitch and he formed a balanced looking partnership with Neil. Did show a bit of inexperience by allowing the ball to go out for a corner thinking it had come off a Cardiff player but generally played well.

Alex Pritchard: 7/10

Made some good runs up top, linked well with Amad and did his usually closing down. Thought he took a little too long to get a shot off on a couple of occasions but was heavily involved in Cirkin’s goal after his FK was pushed onto the post.

Amad Diallo: 7/10

Created some really good chances throughout the game but found his team-mates unable to take advantage. Neil, Ekwah and Pritchard all failed to trouble the goalkeeper when given good chances by the loanee.

Jack Clarke: 6/10

Much quieter today than his showing against Hull but had a good diving header disallowed for offside, which was borderline at best.

Abdoullah Ba: 6/10

Covered a lot of ground in an advanced role and played a couple of nice balls, one threaded ball to Pritchard in a wide position in the first half and then one to Amad that led to a good opportunity for Neil. Never really threatened the Cardiff goal himself but did OK.

---

Substitutes

Edouard Michut: 6/10

Gave the team a burst of energy near the end and made a couple of runs down the left, the first one saw the ball cut out before he was clear and then Amad just couldn’t quite get on the end of Michut’s ball.

Patrick Roberts: 6/10

A bit quiet when he came on as Cardiff finally started to get back into the game.

Joe Gelhardt: 6/10

Had one great chance but passed up the opportunity to shoot first time and saw a poor shot then blocked by a Cardiff player, stretched the play a couple of times to ease pressure though, one with a run down the wing and then with a nice flicked header to Amad.

---

Man of the Match: Dennis Cirkin

All of the back three did well today but I thought Cirkin was the pick of the bunch. It was nice to see him back in the starting XI and not only did he pop up with the winner but he was also in the right place at the right time at the other end, clearing following Patterson’s save and then an important foot in when Cardiff had a dangerous opportunity late in the game.

Photo by Ian horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

---